Steven Universe - Adventures of the Gems 3
by NegaBoss2000
Summary: After escaping from homeworld with Connie, Steven knows that nothing will be the same in beach city. With his sister Nora stranded in space, his friend relationship with Connie on the ropes, the young boy pushes past his comfort zone in order to help everyone and to fight off the Diamond Authority. But the most important challenge, is to find out the mystery of Pink Diamond.
1. Prologue

**Well...are we all prepared for the third AOTG?**

**If so, then let's get down to BISMUTH **

**But seriously...if you all survived Adventures of the Gems 2, then a heds up, it one will will be nothing compared to this one.**

**Now since the SU Movie is coming out, I'm gonna be releasing this prologue for the time being and the rest will come soon enough.**

**Anyways, with that said, on with the story **

* * *

**Prologue**

_Somewhere near the barn_

_The the hull of a ship._

_Steven sat by himself, sad, all alone with nobody but some girl, not Connie, to keep him company._

_A flash of lightning suddenly boomed outside, frightening him in the process. Eventually, he teared up and began to cry. "Hmm...it's just lightning...nothing to cry over." The girl said with concern._

_Steven couldn't help it though, he was really upset and never noticed the lightning strike outside._

**_Well...this is pretty sad right?_**

**_I'm in a situation where the truth is revealed and I'm all alone with nobody to turn to._**

_Steven didn't even have anyone else with him, not Garnet, nor Peridot, nor Amethyst, Citrine, Pearl, Connie, or anyone else he knew and loved._

**_The name is Universe, Steven Universe and...ok, I'm gonna be real with you guys..._**

_Steven tried to turn away just to block out all the negative thoughts, only to be met with looking at his mother's sword before he whacked it away from him, wanting nothing more to do with it or the powers from her that he obtained or even her memor for that matter. "The truth can be bitter...I tried telling you..." The girl spoke._

**_The truth I've found out was about my mom, and honestly...I don't even know what to do anymore. I know my hopes have been lowered in the past, but this time it was really bad._**

_The young boy then felt his arm, which had a huge bruise on it, showing that he was presumingly hurt by Sapphire and her cryokinesis. It really stung his heart that Sapphire, one of Garnet's components, would even do that to him. _

**_I also think everyone's turned against me because of it._**

**_Now I'm left with two thoughts, go back to homeworld and hand myself in...or start my life over again without anyone I've ever known or loved, and I don't think there's a third option this time._**

_It was then that Steven noticed the pilot seats for the ship, thinking about leaving everyone behind, but they'd be heartbroken to know this, but if it meant that everyone would get better...he was willing to take a chance on it._

**_So it looks like this is the end of the line for me...but before I go, let's go back to when I got back from homeworld that very _****_day._**

* * *

August, 15th 2000

Planet Earth

Beach City

**_Oh...not the right year, but it definitely explains the story of how I came to be and what the future holds._**

_Pearl and Amethyst were sitting against a large rock outside of the crystal temple while waiting for something. "I can't believe she's really going through with this Pearl." Amethyst said, feeling a bit sad about what Rose Quartz was thinking of doing. "Oh Amethyst, what am I going to do when she disappears? I'm going to lose her!" Pearl asked sadly, on the verge of sobbing with only Citrine to comfort her. "Hey...Evén if she goes, you steehl 'ave us." The yellow quartz spoke with reassurance, resulting in Pearl hugging her._

_It was a while later when Garnet came over to the gems to give them the news. "Oh Garnet, what news do you have?" Pearl asked in concern as Garnet took off her visor with a sad expression. "You may want to have a look at this." Garnet spoke, immediately causing Pearl to rush over to Greg. And soon enough, the others followed immediately. "What was up Garnet? Did something go wrong?" Amethyst asked in concern. "Something went right actually, for Rose I mean." Garnet responded as she stroked Amethyst's hair._

_"Oh my stars...it's not possible..." Pearl said in shock. "What is it Pearl?" Amethyst asked in confusion as she rushed over to Greg to see what happened. She then gazed in shock to see what had happened. Greg was holding two babies, one with black hair and the other with dark rose hair with pink dye on it. "Woah...it's impossible. I thought Rose only had one baby in mind..." Amethyst said in disbelief. "I saw this as a third option...and I'm proud that Rose chose it." Garnet responded with a smile. "Y-Yeah...Nora was dying, and I was panicking...so she took Nora and kissed her on the forehead. She had twins." Greg explained both happily and sadly. "Uh...Nora?" Amethyst asked in confusion. "That's this one's name." Greg said, gesturing the baby with the dark rose hair._

_"And this one, he's called Steven, he has Rose's gem." Greg said, showing the other baby who had Rose's gem. "Oh...there she is..." Pearl said in surprise. Steven looked at Nora and suddenly smiled as he tried to reach her. "Aw, look at zat. Zéy réahl-lee lové each othair." Citrine said in awe. "Yeah...they sure do Citrine. I think they'll be great siblings growing up together." Garnet said while shedding a single tear._

_"What are we going to tell them about their mother when they're older? Oh man, I don't think they'll be happy when they hear about what happened." Greg asked with a panicked expression as Pearl came over to Nora. "You won't have to worry about it...especially when we get rid of Nora." Pearl said, immediately slapping Nora's hand away from Steven's, causing her to cry. The others gasped at Pearl's actions and were even shocked that Pearl would even do something to a baby, even Nora._

_Thankfully, Garnet was able to calm Nora down through Ruby and Sapphire, who the little girl found absolutely adorable. "Aw, don't listen to that liar Nora, your Auntie Ruby and Auntie Sapphire won't let you go." Ruby said soothingly and even playing around with Nora, who giggled. "Ruby, take it easy on Nora, she's only a baby." Sapphire said jokingly before being handed Nora and singing to her._

_All the while, Greg handed Steven to Amethyst before he brought Pearl behind his van where he spoke to her in a serious manner. "Ok, first off: Nora was just born alongside her brother, and secondly: Are you suggesting I give Nora up for adoption?!" He asked in absolute shock and anger, not wanting to part with his baby girl. "It has to be done...she saw too much Greg." Pearl insisted coldly. "Her mother wouldn't want me to do that." Greg complained, daring to challenge Pearl's argument. "Well P...Rose isn't here, is she?!" She yelped before running off sadly._

_By night time, Pearl hid behind one of the temple rocks and stayed there for the rest of the night, crying to herself about all the bad things that had been happening to the Crystal Gems for a long time. But it seemed to her like the worst had come. "Jewel...where did you go? Ohh, I should have been there for you...and I failed." Pearl said sadly, on the verge of sobbing._

_"She wouldn't want you to be sad Pearl. Even if she did end up like the other gems." A voice suddenly spoke up, causing Pearl to see Purity Diamond standing behind her. "P-Purity...what are you doing here?" Pearl asked, nearly choking up on her own tears as Purity sat down beside her. "She may be gone...but on the bright side, at least you have Steven to watch over now." Purity spoke with reassurance, trying to help Pearl get better._

_"What bright side is there to look on? We lost everyone, Bismuth, Jewel, Tiger's Eye, Sphalerite, Drusy Quartz, all of them are gone. And now...we lost Rose..." Pearl cried, really missing Rose, the leader of the Crystal Gems who she looked up to. "It's just like when we lost Bismuth in battle...but now I have do deal with Rose being gone..." She continued, sobbing without control of it. "Nora doesn't mean any harm...and getting rid of her would be like shunning a good friend." Purity explained, figuring what Pearl was going to say next. "I know...but what if she stays with us? She could ruin everything. I can't risk her doing any of that." Pearl exclaimed in panic. "Pearl, calm yourself...she's just a young child...she might not remember anything about Rose." Purity spoke with insistance._

_"One other thing...Is...is it possible for P-Rose to return?" Pearl asked sadly, really wanting her to come back before Purity looked at her. "Funny you should mention that Pearl...I looked through all the alternative futures like Garnet, more than she could possibly see. I looked at all the possible outcomes of her returning to help defend the planet and help our fallen allies." Purity explained as Pearl turned towards her with hope. "You mean...it's possible for her to return?" She asked with silent joy and surprise. "Indeed...although it could be a close call." Purity explained in a serious tone. "How many were you able to see?" Pearl asked, desperate to know how Rose would return. "I was able to see 1,000,000 futures where it was possible." Purity explained. "And...how many of them actually worked...?" Pearl asked nervously before being met by Purity's serious look. "One..." Hearing this, Pearl was afraid that she might never see Rose ever again._

_"B-But that means there's still hope for her to return, right?" Pearl asked frantically, holding Purity's hand frantically and even shaking her. "There is...we can only hope for the best for now." Purity spoke calmly despite being shaken like a doll. "At least Nora will be gone forever. She won't be able to remember a thing when she's away." Pearl said in relief. "You may regret saying or doing any like that Pearl. Even fifteen years from now." Purity spoke with a disappointed voice. "What do you-?" Pearl started, only to stop when Purity was gone, vanishing without a trace once again. "Regret getting rid of Nora...I doubt she'll even make an impact on us, even in fifteen years." Pearl said in annoyance before walking back down to Garnet and the others._

* * *

Fifteen Years later

Beach City

Beach House

**_Finally...we've caught up._**

Two kids had just exited Steven's house, looking pretty shaken up and silent. Those two kids were Connie Maheswaran, Steven's first friend and possible crush who was 13 years old and also had the sword of Rose Quartz, and the other kid was Zachary Connors, a friend of Nora's who was 15 years old and possessed a powerful relic called the Hive Mind. Not long after, Steven, the young 14 year old boy with his mother's gem, came outside to join them before looking back to see his dad, the gems, Purity and Topaz looking at him with worry.

"We'll be fine! I'll be right back. We're just gonna walk Connie out. Don't worry! None of us are going back into space or anything." Steven said with a fake laugh before heading down the stairs. As soon as he was out of sight, Steven's smile faded to a frown. "Oh man...they're never gonna let me out of their sight again. Oh man...I'm probably grounded for life because of this." He said to himself in fear. It was then that he met with Lion's sad face. Seeing Lion, Steven figured it had something to do with Nora's decision and decided to confront him. "Do you think I made the right decision Lion? Leaving Nora behind I mean." He asked Lion, who responded with a sad expression upon his face and a sad moan, showing that he was also impacted by Nora's decision. "Yeah...me neither." Steven replied before he noticed Connie and Zach slowly walking away.

Steven then ran up to the two kids, calmed down a bit and acted like he was alright. "Well...that sure was some crazy ride. Going to homeworld, being put on trial and getting out of there alive. Man that was absolutely insane." Steven said, acting like he was alright, only to see Zach doing a sign language which said not to say any of that stuff to Connie. "Um...guys? Are you both ok?" The young boy then asked with caution. "Well...yeah, I'm good thanks." Zach responded sheepishly. "What about you Connie?" After hearing Steven, Connie stayed silent. "Um...are you ok?" She still gave no response to Steven, getting him to think that she wasn't ok after all they went through.

"Who am I kidding. Sorry for acting like that, I was only trying to keep calm so you wouldn't have to worry about me. I shouldn't have brought Nora with us...she wouldn't be in that situation if it wasn't for me." Steven said badly, unable to hold his sadness in any longer at all. "Yes you should have." Connie suddenly said, gaining Steven's and Zach's attention as Connie turned to face him. "W-What?" Steven asked in confusion. "I said, yes. You should have brought Nora along. Without her we wouldn't be able to get home." Connie said in a frustrated voice.

"L-Look, whatever your mad at me about, I said I was sorry ok? I can't say anything else other than that. I'm still worried about Nora, even after we go-" Steven began, only to be cut off by Connie. "Why are you worried about her for?! She risked her own life for us and you are being selfish by saying that." She said in annoyance. "Connie, I can't help worrying about Nora, she's my sister! I made a promise to my dad to take care of her and I couldn't even keep it!" Steven said stressfully. "She said, she'd find a way to get home! You can't have _everything _the way _you _want it!" Connie spat back in frustration.

"Why are you like this?! I just wish that Nora was still here and you're acting like she's nothing to you!" Steven asked in annoyance, surprising Lion in the process. "I know that Steven, I'm aware of that. It's just-" Connie began, but was cut off by an angry Steven. "What? knowing about how you lost your grandmother?! No offense, but you don't know _anything_ about me!" He growled, pointing is finger, accusingly at Connie after cutting her of.

In the process, the Hive Mind began to glow a red color, stating that it had detected anger from withing the two kids. This gave Zach the impression that they were really going at each other because of Nora's decision. "Woah, woah, guys, we've all been through a lot, this is nobody's fault, can't we just calm down for a while?" Zach insisted in panic, attempting to seperate them both, but cut stopped when they became more furious. "NO!" Steven and Connie yelled, directly towards Zach. "Not until I tell this jerk that he's ungrateful about Nora's decision and the fact that he's trying to pass off everyone's feelings when we got captured!" Connie growled before turning towards Steven.

"I wasn't _trying_ to pass off everyone's feelings! I was _trying_ to distract Black Diamond and those gems so we could get away! Besides, I didn't see _you_ coming up with any ideas to save us all!" Steven complained, daring to challenge Connie's arguement, but only resulting in making it more heated. "I can easily handly myself like before and way before then!" Connie insisted angrily. "You nearly died in that Kindergarten when that Robonoid blew up! I was terrified of losing you, just like when you got kidnapped by Aqauamrine and Topaz, or when you were taken to that human zoo by Blue Diamond!" Steven added, in a bit of a higher level of anger.

"Well you're the one who attempted to leave our world to save everyone! And you didn't even seem to care about how they felt!" Connie brought up once again, really getting on Steven's nerves. "Rgh! You think I didn't know how anyone else would feel if I did give myself up, well did YOU even think about what I'd feel if you or Nora died or were left behind on Homeworld?!" He then said, angrily calling Connie out for supporting Nora's decision. In an instant, Connie suddenly snapped and actually punched Steven, causing him to fall to the ground.

"BUT YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW IF WE COULD HAVE SURVIVED ON HOMEWORLD!" Connie suddenly yelled, taking the argument way too far without realising it. "YOU THINK YOU KNOW EVERYTHING, LIKE HOW TO KEEP EVERYONE SAFE OR HOW WE CAN FIGHT WITHOUT KILLING BUT YOU DON'T! AND YOU KEEP INSISTING THAT YOU'RE NOT YOUR MOM SINCE YOU HEARD SHE SHATTERED PINK DIAMOND BUT IN TRUTH, MAYBE YOU REALLY ARE LIKE YOUR MOM!" Connie screamed in anger, lashing out at her friend.

"A-At least...I-I'm not the one who was thinking more about herself than Nora's safety in the first place! I mean, you didn't think about anyone but yourself!" Steven growled, getting back to his feet with his fists clenched, even scaring Lion in the process. "WELL MAYBE THAT WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED NORA HADN'T BEEN SO NAIVE! OR MAYBE IT WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HADN'T HAVE GIVEN PERIDOT THAT LIST! OR MAYBE EVERYTHING WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF I HAD MET YOU!" Connie screamed at the top of her lungs.

But then, she suddenly realised what she said, gasping in fright and even covering her mouth to make sure she didn't say anything else, but in her mind, she feared that it was too late to take it all back. All the while, Steven stood there in shock, almost as if he had been stabbed through the heart. Connie had never said anything hurtful to him before, and this was extremely harsh discouragement. Connie couldn't find the right words to say, mainly because she was afraid Steven might say something worse. Even Zach thought that he might make things worse. The same went for Lion when he heard every word that Connie said.

"I...I mean...i-if you really think that your sister is more important than anyone else...then there's no reason why we should be friends anymore." Connie said in a calm but shaky voice after turning her head away, taking the two boys by shock as she then mounted Lion and prepared to warp home. "Connie-" Steven tried to say, but Connie didn't even want to hear what he had to say. "Don't. Just...don't. You'll make things worse...for everyone...if you try to help...and that's the last thing I want from _you_ right now." She said, trying to keep herself from crying, really getting to Steven's head that he made the argument worse.

"Let's go Lion." Connie said sadly, wanting to get home before she broke down into tears, but Lion didn't move for a moment. His eye was still on Steven as he sadly looked at him, understanding what he was going through and even knew that he while he didn't want to leave Nora behind, he made the right decision. As a matter of fact, Lion was sad that Nora chose to stay behind to help her brother, he understood her and what the little girl had done for Steven and everyone else. "Lion, what are you waiting for?" Connie asked, being a little impatient, causing Lion to look at her before running across the ocean and through a portal he opened and went through it with Connie. For a moment, the boys were left there in silence, until Zach spoke up.

"Well...that could have gone better." He said awkwardly. Steven then kicked the sand out of frustration for making the situation worse. "Oh that's right Steven, just drive Connie away why don't you? Oh, maybe giving her a hard slap would have be a bonus! Ugh!" He said sarcastically to himself in anger, immediately blaming himself for yelling at Connie before he sighed sadly and sitting on the sand. "S-Steven, you ok bro?" Zach asked in concern. "S-Sorry...I guess I took the argument too far." Steven said weakly as Zach sat down beside him.

"Girls sure can be hard sometimes...and a little scary." Zach said, feeling a little shiver going up his spine. "Y-Yeah...that's true." Steven admitted sheepishly, but also sadly as he looked beyond the horizon while rubbing his eye. "Well...I guess it's just gonna be the two of us for a while then." Zach said sadly as he patted Steven on the back. "So what now?" Steven asked, feeling a bit sad at the moment. "I guess we'll have to tell everyone what happened." Zach said, feeling absolutely tired. All the while, a girl happened to see the whole argument happen before running off.

**_Yeah...if you think this moment was where I ended up, then you're mistaken. It happens later...Anyways, let's move ahead with this story._**

* * *

**Oooh...**

**Looks like we're getting a rough start to the story.**

**Also, for those of you who are angry at Connie for insulting Steven and discouraging him, I just want to point out that she didn't mean what she said. She was just stressed out from the events of AOTG 2.**

**So anyway, keep checking for updates, I will upload soon.**

**Negaboss2000 out.**


	2. Dewey Wins

**Everyone ready for the first chapter?**

**If so, then let's get on with it already **

**(Please note that not everything in this chapter will be like Dewey Wins in the series)**

* * *

**[0:00] NateWantsToBattle - Let Me Try**

_~ You and I, we both know well_

_~ I couldn't do this by myself_

**Cartoon Network Presents**

_~ And every day it's all the same_

_~ You picked me up when down I fell_

**Based on the series by Rebecca Sugar**

_~ But I'm still standing through and through_

_~ I know exactly what to do_

_~ I'll give it everything I got_

_~ Although I'm not stronger than you_

**A Fanbase Series by Negaboss2000**

_~ But I'll be your shield I can be your lion_

_~ I'll dry your eyes if I see you cryin'_

_~ Believe in me_

_~ And I won't let you down_

**Presents**

_~ But now we've come so far_

_~ I know just who we are_

_~ And we shine brighter than any gem_

_~ Between us and the sun_

**Steven Universe**

_~ Now it's just you and me_

_~ Like it was meant to be_

_~ And I'll protect you I'll defend you_

**Adventures of the Gems**

_~ If you let me try_

_~ We'll stay together now and forever_

_~ Just let me try_

**3**

_~ You and I yeah we both know_

_~ We couldn't do this on our own_

_~You say you're fighting for my mother_

_~ But won't see how much I've grown_

**Starring:**

**Zach Callison as Steven Universe**

**Susan Egan as Pink Diamond and The Pebbles**

**Estelle Fanta Swaray as Garnet**

**Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl, Jewel and other Pearls**

**Michaela Dietz as Amethyst**

_~ But I can't believe everything that I'm told_

**Charlyne Yi as Ruby, Starby and The Ruby Squad**

**Erica Luttrell as Sapphire and Padparadscha**

**Shelby Rabara as Peridot, Peridot, Peridot 5XB and Squaridot**

**Jennifer Paz as Lapis Lazuli**

**Uno Aduba as Bismuth, Goldsmuth and Bronzemuth**

**Kazumi Evans as Drusy Quartz**

**Nicole Oliver as Paragon 'Purity' Diamond**

_~ I'll fight until the end while I'm young and when I'm old_

**Grace Rolek as Connie 'Lucy' Maheswaran**

**Daveigh Chase as Nora Universe**

**Jeremy Jordan**** as Zach Connors**

**Sophia Lillis**** as Felicia 'Rogue' Games**

_~ But I'll be your shield I can be your lion_

_~ I'll dry your eyes if I see you cryin'_

**Kimberly Brooks as Jasper, Citrine, Butterfly Wing Jasper and Carnelian**

**Martha Higareda as Topaz, Peacock Topaz and Imperial Topaz**

_~ Believe in me_

_~ And I won't let you down_

**Ashly Burch as Ruty and Tila (The Rutile Twins) and Cerberus Rutile**

**Enuka Okuma as Rhodonite**

**Kathleen Fisher as Fluorite**

**Aparna Nancherla as Nephrite, Vertica, Wavy and Lemon Jade**

_~ But now we've come so far_

**Aimee Mann as Opal**

**Jamie Chung** **as Azurite**

**Amanda Joy Michalka As Stevonnie**

**Natasha Lyonne as Smoky Quartz**

_~ I know just who we are_

**Alastair James as Rainbow Quartz 2.0 and Titanium Quartz**

**Ashley Johnson as Spirit Quartz and Agent Terra**

**Cree Summer as Amber**

**Dwayne Johnson**** as Solar Quartz**

_~ And we shine brighter than any gem_

**Octavia Spencer** **as Gibeon Meteorite**

**Hynden Walch**** as ****Hawk's Eye**

**Kat Graham**** as ****Moonstone**

_~ Between us and the sun_

**Halle Berry**** as Howlite**

**Nicki Minaj as Sugilite**

**Alexia Khadime as Sardonyx**

**Shoniqua Shandai as Sunstone**

**Rita Rani Ahuja as Alexandrite**

**Gal Gadot as Excelsior Diamond**

_~ Now it's just you and me_

_~ Like it was meant to be_

_~ And I'll protect you I'll defend you_

_~ If you let me try_

_~ We'll stay together now and forever_

_~ Just let me try_

**Laurence Fishburne**** as Director Barak Wrath**

**Will Smith as Agent Lance Sterling**

**Ned Luke as Agent Mike Thompson**

**Steven Ogg as Agent Travis Pottz**

**Ben Diskin as Agent Z/Zor****u****a**

_~ Stay with me_

_~ Fight with me_

_~ Victory's abound_

**Woody Harrelson as Ian Galaxy**

**Andrew Kishino as Kevin Galaxy**

**Jason Harris Katz as Darren Galaxy**

_~ Now we've got this_

_~ You can't stop us_

_~ And I won't let you down_

_~ I know you never asked to be made_

**Matthew Moy as Lars Barriga**

**Kate Micucci as Sadie Miller**

**Zachary Steel as Ronaldo Fryman**

**Amy Sedaris as Defending Zircon**

_~ But now we've come so far_

_~ I know just who we are_

_~ And we shine brighter than any gem_

_~ Between us and the sun_

**Christine Baranski as Hessonite**

**Emily Blunt as Bloodstone**

**Della Saba as Aquamarine**

**Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald**

**Larissa Gallagher as Bluebird Azurite**

**Angela Bassett as Hope Diamond**

_~ But now we've come so far_

_~ I know just who we are_

**Patti LuPone as Yellow Diamond**

**Lisa Hannigan as Blue Diamond**

_~ And we shine brighter than any gem_

_~ Between us and the sun_

**Tara Strong as Red Diamond**

**Grey Griffin as Green Diamond**

_~ Now it's just you and me_

_~ Like it was meant to be_

**With Zoe Saldana **

**as Black Diamond**

_~ And I'll protect you I'll defend you_

_~ If you let me try_

**And Introducing Christine Ebersole**

**as White Diamond**

_~ We'll stay together now and forever_

_~ Just let me try_

* * *

**Dewey Wins**

The Next Day

The Big Donut

The two boys had gone over to the Big Donut to check up on Zach's Cousin, Lars and his friend Sadie. They brought Topaz along, mainly after Garnet had a word with her and sent her out to Beach City to apologise to everyone about her crimes. "And that's basically the whole story." Zach said, finishing up his explination on. He had just finished explaining what happened when he and the others went to homeworld and what had happened. "Woah...that's pretty rough..." Lars said in shock. "Yeah...I never even gained a good night's sleep because of it." Zach admitted in shame. "But we still came back, unharmed and safe." Topaz added with a sheepish smile.

"And you just left Nora behind for dead?!" Sadie asked in complete shock. "Did Zach say it was Nora's decision to stay behind? I thought you heard him say that." Topaz complained in annoyance. "Ugh, says the huge gem who kidnapped everyone at beach city." Sadie growled in frustration, taking Topaz by surprise. "Nora decided this, she insisted on it, I tried to change her mind but there wasn't anything I could do about it." Steven explained sadly. "Well _you_ should have tried _harder_!" Sadie growled, really making Steven think that she was hurting him.

"I-I'm sorry you guys. It's just...I can't believe Nora wanted to stay behind just to get you back home." Sadie then apologised, calming down after seeing the state Steven was in. "Yeah..me neither. I never got to know her...but now that she's gone...I feel bad." Lars added sheepishly as he rubbed his head. "At least you weren't killed during the fight in the kindergarten." Purity said, suddenly appearing beside Lars and making him jump over the counter. "Man...one of these days...it's gonna get someon-" Zach started in annoyance, only for Lars to cut him off.

"Hang on... Did you say, if I was taken to that planet...I WOULD HAVE DIED?!" Lars yelped, freaking out about that possibility. "In an alternative reality Lars. Instead of Leggy becoming shattered and brought back as a Star Ruby, you died and Steven managed to bring you back to life. Apologies if it sounded morbid." Purity explained as she gave her apologies. "But the thing which triggered it was you cowering from Topaz, where in this reality...you did not chicken out and instead helped Sadie from Topaz." The powerful diamond explained further. "Woah...I guess you're right. I've changed, and not the bad kind, I mean the good kind." Lars said with pride.

"But now Nora is stuck on homeworld, yeah she's got help from those Off Colors...but it's not the same..." Steven said sadly as he turned away. "You're acting worse than Zach...did anything bad happen last night?" Sadie asked, suddenly drawn towards Steven's sadness. "Just take it easy...he and Connie were barking at each other and she left without another word." Zach explained, pretty uncomfortable with mentioning the argument himself. "Huh? What happened?" Sadie asked with concern.

"I got really angry that she supported Nora's decision, we had a bad argument, I took it too far and she nearly pulled her sword on me and called me a mindless, neglectful, egotistic, baby." Steven explained, telling Sadie and Lars what happened last night. "Oooh, sounds painful." Lars said sheepishly, rubbing his arm as he heard about the argument. "I probably had it coming anyway." Steven admitted shamefully as he rubbed his arm. "Why would you even say that?" Sadie asked in surprise. "I mean, I think I took the argument way too far." Steven said sadly. "Maybe Connie was just furious about Nora's decision too and she took her anger out on you." Topaz suggested, figuring that she may have been right.

"Look...I don't want to talk about it, if that's ok." Steven insisted, really feeling bad ever since the argument. "Then I won't utter one phrase of it Steven." Purity said with a soft smile. In a mere moment, Purity then vanished without a trace, like she usually did. "Is it weird that I'm getting used to that?" Zach asked sheepishly. "Eh...You'd get used to it I think." Steven responded with a little chuckle.

"What do you think Topaz?" Zach then asked, wanting to speak to Topaz, only to see that the yellow fusion had gone. "Er Topaz? Where are you?" Steven asked, looking around the shop, which happened to be too small for a huge fusion to hide in. The two boys then saw the huge yellow fusion after she opened the door to the Big Donut. "Uh guys? I think you may want to see this." Topaz said sheepishly as she went out the door, getting the gang to look at each other in concern before heading outside.

* * *

Outside

Steven and the others joined Topaz as she pointed to what she was trying to show them. To their shock, there was a crowd of people who were cheering over to a podium that was quickly built up by a couple of guards who wore security outfits. There was also a few men who looked a little bit like thugs, a lawyer who looked around 18 years old and nervous looking.

However, the person that the crowd was cheering to the most, was the man who was on the podium. He was wearing a light purple businessman suit, a white cowboy's stetson and wore a silver galaxy necklace with a purple gemstone in the middle of it. "All right, settle down y'all. All's gonna be well once Ah'm in the office." The man said with a western cowboy kind of accent. This made the crowd cheer for him, apart from a couple of people.

"Who the heck is that clown?" Lars asked in confusion. "You don't know? That's Ian Galaxy, CEO of Galaxy Corperations." Zach explained, whispering to his cousin before turning to Steven. "He's also Darren's father." The teenager said sheepishly. "Wait...as in, Darren Galaxy? The kid who bullied you, Connie...and Nora?" Steven gasped in shock. "Yep...that's his father. Don't let the niceness decieve you." Zach continued through a whisper.

At that moment, Kiki and Peedee took notice to Steven and left the crowd to see how he was. "Steven. I'm so glad to see you're alright." Kiki said, feeling relieved that Steven was ok after being taken to Homeworld. "And Zac, what the heck were you thinking?! Lars was worried sick about you!" Peedee asked in annoyance, hitting Zach on the shoulder. "Take it easy, he's had a rough time, after being suspened from school, feeling like nobody cared about him etc. Look, he felt like his life was falling apart." Topaz said, backing her friend.

"And what are you doing back here? Come to kidnap more people from Beach City?" Ronaldo asked, suddenly appearing between Peedee and Kiki. "Not important. Why did you leave like that Zach?" Peedee asked Zach, ingoring Ronaldo's complaints on Topaz. "I felt like I had nothing left to lose, I felt like nobody cared about me anymore, so I decided to help my friends, even if it meant that I might never come back." Zach said stressfully. Lars was stunned, hearing that from his own cousin who thought nobody cared about him. Nobody could see it, but the Hive Mind in Zach's hoodie glowed blue, stating that he was sad. "That's not true Zach...I care about you. My parents do too, along with Steven, your parents and even your friends." Lars said as he pulled his own cousin in for a hug.

It was then that Mr Fryman came over to his two boys and noticed Steven. "Steven. When Ronaldo said you were abducted by aliens, I thought he was making it up. But in all seriousness, thanks for saving the boys." He said in relief before Kofi shoved him aside to shake Steven's hand. "And thank you for saving Kiki, I was worried sick for her safety." Kofi said, grateful that Steven thought about his daughter's safety.

"Er...what's going on over here Mr Fryman?" Lars asked in confusion. "Didn't you hear, this man called Ian Galaxy, he's running for mayor in Beach City. He'll lead us to a bright future." Mr Fryman said with a smile, completely taking the gang by surprise. "Woah...I honestly didn't see that coming." Zach said in shock. "Indeed...he'll be a lot better than our current mayor." Kofi added with a nod.

Once the two men walked back to the crowd, the group looked at each other in shock. "What do you guys think?" Sadie asked Peedee and Ronaldo, who both shrugged. "I dunno...something smells fishy about him. I mean...he came out of nowhere and plans to run for mayor." Peedee said in suspicion. "This could be because he's a fraud." Ronaldo suggested with a whisper. "He's been dealing with the black market, cruel deals, etc. so yeah, he's a fraud." Zach explained towards the gang.

"Well...he seems like a nice man." Steven said, seeming a bit confused as Nanefua came over to the group. "Do not let looks decieve you Steven. I do not like one single thing about that man. We have to get rid of him before anything bad happens." The old woman insisted, glaring at Ian and being the only one along with Kiki and few people who were suspicious of Ian.

"Yeah...but where do we start Nana?" Kiki said, disgusted about the fact that Ian wanted to own Beach City for himself, as described by Zach. "Go see Mayor Dewey, he'll give you a bit of a clue to what's going on. I also have a feeling that we may need to help him." Nanefua said to Steven and Kiki, who both nodded before they set off with the others.

* * *

Over at the Mayor's office

The gang had arrived to confront Mayor Dewey about the current problem, only to find that he was having trouble himself. People were outside, wanting him to step down, but surprisingly, most of the crowd were made up of workers from Galaxy Corperation, and the rest were there just blindly supporting them. Topaz gave her apologies to the mayor and explained that she was under orders from Aquamarine before being freed by Nora.

When he heard this, Dewey spoke up, feeling like he needed to let a lot of his people know what happened to him. "This is troubling...Normally I wouldn't have gotten involved with stuff like this...but I figured it was serious when I found out that Fryman's and Pizza's kids were missing, so I prepared to take action. But apparently, fate had other plans for me, and I found myself missing the whole investigation." He explained before noticing Steven's sad expression. "Yeah...the whole incident took it's tole on me." Steven responded sadly.

"I heard about Nora. Honestly...I can't believe she's stuck on another world." Bill said sadly as he rubbed the young boy's hair. "Yeah...it was her decision to stay behind." Steven said sadly as Topaz placed a hand on his shoulder. "Darn it all! Why couldn't Ian just stay out of this?! Why'd it have to be Nora who got stuck behind?! Ugh, I am gonna get him back for this!" Dewey groaned in annoyance. "So...you said you were about to get involved in the disappearences of everyone right? Where the heck were you?" Sadie complained in annoynce. "I was about to investigate what was happening, when I suddenly passed out and woke up in the closet. I couldn't get out until after the whole abduction thing was over." Hearing this, the gang were shocked.

"Couldn't you have just used the door handle?" Lars asked in annoyance. "Well I would have...if the whole door wasn't locked and deadbolted from the other side!" Dewey groaned in annoyance, revealling something that stunned the gang completely. "Wait...someone locked you in there?" Steven asked in shock. "Yeah, I figured that. I tried getting out, and I did, but it was too late when I tried to find out about the abductions." Dewey explained revealling the chains on the closet door from the outside.

"I had a feeling that Ian would do this. Believe me...I didn't want this to happen, but Ian just doesn't care anyway. He just...does what he pleases." Dewey said, feeling annoyed with Ian for his lies. "What is it with you and Mr Galaxy?" Steven asked in confusion. "Ian offered to take my place as mayor and I refused his offer. I did it because he's always all talk on the outside but on the inside...he's got a dark history." Dewey said ominously. "W-What kind of history are we talking about Mayor Dewey?" Sadie asked in concern as she held Lars' hand. "He's part of a dangerous gang family who threatens all in their way, they call themselves, _the Galaxies_. They always have this creepy way of getting what they want, and they don't hesitate." Dewey explained ominously, feeling as if

"Maybe he just wanted a friend, I mean, if that's the case then maybe we sho-" Steven began, only to be cut off by Dewey and Zach. "NO!" They both yelped in fright, taking the young boy by surprise. "Messing with a Galaxy means messing with their business. They don't hesitate to silence anyone who gets in their way." Dewey said, shivering in fear at the thought of losing Steven to his rival. "Right...well we need to get these people to realise that they're making a big mistake." Sadie said firmly as Lars and his cousin nodded in agreement.

* * *

Back on the Boardwalk

Ronaldo and Lars were trying to convince the crowd that Dewey was trying to get involved in the investigation but was trapped in his closet, however...it wasn't working as people thought they assumed that they were defending the current mayor. Mainly because Ian had set his guards onto the two boys and turned a lot of people against them to try and stop them...as Ronaldo had put it anyway.

"Lars come on, stop defending Dewey. He was the cause of all of this." Lars' dad insisted, not wanting to go against his own son. "I just saw him and talked to him, he said that it wasn't true! Come on, how far do I have to go to convince everyone here?!" Lars groaned in anger. "Yeah! I've been doing theories on Mr Galaxy and I nearly stayed up for two nights straight trying to gather all the evidence!" Ronaldo insisted. "Ha, Ah never knew y'all had a sense of humor." Ian said with a bit of a snicker.

"Everyone please, we need to help Dewey. There have been people going against him and we really need all the help we can get." Steven said, appearing beside Lars with Topaz hiding behind him. "And who might y'all be lil' pork chop?" Ian asked, looking at Steven and insulting him a little. "Um...I'm Steven, Steven Universe, sir." Steven said, introducing himself to the cowboy businessman, who seemed to think for a moment which was told by his face. "Pleasure to meet y'all. Although...Ah feel like Ah've heard ya name before, but nevermind that." Ian said, dismissing his thoughts. "Think about it. We're blindly electing someone that we've hardly known for a couple of hours. Something doesn't seem right to me." Steven said, making a good point, only for everyone to dismiss the thought.

"Steven...I know you're trying to help everyone and Mayor Dewey, I'm proud of you for that. But there comes a point when you have to realise...you can't always help everyone." Mr Fryman said with a serious tone, disheartening Steven in the process as everyone looked at him. "Wait...you weren't on your own when you were abducted." Barb said in realisation. "Yeah...where's Nora, Zach and Connie?" Jenny asked in concern.

"Connie's...fine. She's just gone home for the day. Zach's in the mayor's van...but Nora's...nah, you wouldn't believe me if I told you." Steven explained, giving reassurance before dismissing where Nora's whereabouts were. "Come on...you can tell us." Sour Cream insisted. "Ok...Nora stayed behind to let me come home. I was against it, but she insisted to stay behind anyway." Steven explained sadly, making everyone gasp in sadness. "Oh no...this is awful." Nanefua gasped in horror.

"How did you and the others even get back?" Jenny asked in shock. "Nora's hair had some kind of power which acted as a gateway to home. She couldn't get through her own hair, which is one of the reasons why she couldn't come home." Steven explained to everyone. "Ugh, why couldn't that little woman in the cream cloak bring her back?!" Kofi exclaimed in anger, accusing Purity of not bringing back Nora.

"She said that her powers didn't work that way, her gem cracks up everytime it happens!" Ronaldo insisted, making people think he was crazy as usual, but this time was different. "If that's even true, which it probably isn't, then how could you boys even know that?" Mr Fryman asked in annoyance. "Because I was there where it happened! We all were! When we came out of the water, I noticed the gemstone on her forehead was cracked, she looked weak because of it." Lars groaned, figuring that nobody was believing him at the moment. "In his defence, I was there too." Ronaldo admitted sheepishly as Peedee nodded too.

Mr Fryman tried to argue, but they made a good point and he kept quiet about it. "Now hold on folks. There's no reason to blame some woman in a cream cloak over something that was outta ya control. The real cause of this was yer mayor, who, as I've heard, didn't join in the fight. Not to mention that this huge yellowbelly over here." Ian said, shifting all the blame to Mayor Dewey and Topaz, who stood behind Steven in fear.

In a matter of moments, most of the people began blaming Topaz and even throwing a couple of things at her. "Everyone look. I apologise for-" Topaz started, but was cut off when a tomato hit her face, causing her to growl in annoyance. "QUIET!" She then yelled, getting everyone to shut up. As a matter of fact, Topaz was even impressed by how loud she was able to yell. "Look...I apologise for what I did, but it doesn't excuse the fact that you are all being lied to." The huge fusion said in annoyance. "She has a point you know, I mean, this guy shows up out of nowhere and plans to run for the Mayor's office? Sounds shady if you ask me." Lars pointed out sheepishly.

"It's all about safety. We only want the safety of everyone in Beach City in case something like this ever happens again." Mr Smiley insisted firmly. "I can't argue with that...but I think we're making a big mistake with electing Mr Galaxy." Steven pleaded, making Ian and his guards snicker a little. Robbie on the other hand, felt sorry for Steven, thinking that his efforts weren't going to be enough. "I have to agree with what Steven is saying in all fairness." Nanefua said, gaining everyone's attention. "Mother, please don't do this." Kofi insisted, stopping her from speaking much to his worry.

"So, are you guys really insisting on making that cowboy mayor without second thoughts?" Lars groaned in annoyance. "Uh...yes, why?" Sour Cream said in confusion. "It's just...I'm thinking about everyone's safety too. But electing Mr Galaxy isn't the way." "Y-Yeah...maybe if we give Mayor Dewey one more chance, we'll be safe for a while." Sadie added, also taking Dewey's side. In that moment, Mayor Dewey's van appeared and on the boardwalk. "Ah...speaking of which..." Lars said with a smirk as Dewey's van backed up in front of the crowd and stopped. There was a chance to get rid of Ian Galaxy, and this was the moment...or one of them as Purity or Garnet would say.

* * *

Inside Dewey's van

Zach was helping Bill out with speaking like he had changed, but the problem with the mayor was that he was a bit afraid. "Alright Bill...you can do this. All you have to do is say that you've changed and that you'll take more responsibility in the future." Zach said, giving the mayor a speech filled with a lot of confidence. "I can do this...I can do this...oh no, I can't do this." Dewey said, the first part with confidence but the next part with groaning in fright. "Pull it together. You can do this, are you the mayor or not?" Zach asked rhetorically. "Yes. I am the mayor. And I'm not gonna let Ian do this to my people." Bill said with firm confidence.

"Great. Now let's get you out there, to give these people the speech of their lives. Only then will they listen to you best and gain your trust once more." Zach said before opening the doors to Dewey's van for everyone to see.

* * *

Later however...

"Well...that didn't work out the way I expected." Zach said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as he looked at the video of Dewey getting booed at and even with someone throwing a tomato his way. "You're telling me? That was awful!" Bill said in embarrassment. "This is worse than I thought. Who knows what'll happen if that cowboy becomes mayor of Beach City. As much as Dewey's an idiot, I wouldn't replace him for the world." Sadie said, taking a notice to Ian Galaxy celebrating with his goons in the distance. It was even worse when Ian secretly mocked Dewey from the distance. "How does he even get away with anything?" Steven asked stressfully.

"No idea, but we have to get to the bottom of this and prove that Ian's a fraud." Sadie said firmly as Lars nodded too. "Meanwhile, I'll help Dewey with being re-elected again. Sure he's an idiot...but at least he realised his mistakes...just like I realised mine." Steven said, recalling when he was a bit of an idiot as he realised about getting angry with Connie. "Thanks Steven...that means a lot." Bill said with a slight smile. "Bro, are you sure you're up for this?" Zach asked in concern. "I'll be fine. I've done stuff like this before." Steven insisted sheepishly.

"Good luck then. I'll go with you guys just in case you need an extra hand." Zach said, facing his cousin without hesitation. "The more the merrier. But I think we'll also need to find Ronaldo so we need your spying gear Ronaldo. As much as it's a bad idea, I think we need your help." Lars said, feeling like it wasn't going to end well. "Aw yes! Finally, I've got the perfect idea for finding out anything. So, let's go expose us a cowboy." Ronaldo said with a grin.

* * *

That night

Lars, Sadie, Zach, Topaz and Ronaldo went to spy on Ian and his business somewhere near the pier of Beach City. Boy it was lucky that they weren't spotted, otherwise they'd be in a real pickle. Sadie suggested that going to the roof was their best option of spying on them. "Alright Topaz, give us a boost." Lars whispered as Topaz formed a tower with her two counterparts and got the gang up onto the tallest building's roof on Main Street where they climbed to the other side to see Ian preparing to meet up with his buyers, and boy did it looked shady.

"Alright, get that thing up and running Ronaldo, and make it snappy, we don't have all night." Sadie said as Ronaldo got out his spying gear, plugging in his headphones and tried tuning into Ian's conversation, it was close, but Luckily Ronaldo was able to tune in as the conversation started. "T-That's it, I've got something." Ronaldo whispered, hearing a conversation from Ian and his goons. "Well feed it into everyone's phones Ronaldo, expose him right now." Lars whispered in annoyance. "No. We need to keep it quiet for now." Ronaldo said as he listened into the conversation between Ian and his goons. _"Do y'all have what Ah Asked for?" _Ian's voice spoke on the spy device. _"You betcha, it took us a while, but we got it." _One of the buyers responded, handing Ian a contract.

"Ok...let's see..." Ronaldo said as he listened very closely. "He's planning to tear down the Mayor's statue and replace it with one of himself..." He whispered to the others, not knowing that it was the wrong information. "Ugh, come on, that can't be it. Keep searching!" Lars groaned, thinking that Ronaldo was going to take way too long with trying to find the truth. "Right...he's planning on building an oil plant somewhere in Beach City to ruin the town with pollution." Ronaldo then said once more, finding out something pretty shocking, but not being enough of a motive.

"They're planning on making the boardwalk into an oil pumping station." Ronaldo continued, going a bit off topic. "Oh please, just move on." Sadie pleaded in annoyance, agreeing with Lars about the fact that he was missing the whole point of the motive. However though...Ronaldo heard something which completely stunned him. "Oh no...I think...he's gonna try to get into the Crystal Temple!" Ronaldo whispered in horror, getting Zach's heart to skip a beat in the process.

"Ok, it's my turn on that spying device Ronaldo get down." Lars groaned in annoyance before heading up to Ronaldo's position on the roof to take the spy device. "No no, wait. I'm listening to cowboys, I'm listening to the stupid cowboys, you're making it difficult, hey you're throwing me off balance. Oh come on!" "Get down, you're acting so childish! Just get down Ronaldo." The two boys argued and even fought over the spy device before Lars listened into the conversation.

Ian was talking to his shady buyer, who seemed to be pleased with his discovery. "This whole thing could be the next gold rush. Ah hear rumors 'bout magic gemstones which can power anythin' on the planet." Ian explained, showing proof with a corrupted ruby on some form of blaster, a corrupted Bismuth on a hammer and a corrupted Peridot on a tablet. Ian demenstrated the abilities of the enhanced blaster by shooting a few cans, which happened to get disintegrated in the process.

Lars and the gang were horrified when they saw what Ian was selling to his buyer, even Zach noticed that the gemstones on the tools were similar to the gems that he pretty much knew in Steven's life. "Bro...something tells me that this is the darkest twist." Zach whispered in horror as he sneaked up to his cousin and Ronaldo to get a better view on the business. "As y'all can see, these gems enhance any tool on the planet. Folks all around the world'll have limitless enhancements, and it'll make us rich men. Not to mention that it could be a huge benefit in oil companies around the world." Ian explained with pride as he showed what the enhanced tablet was able to do.

"_Impressive…Mr Galaxy, this is a huge breakthrough beyond our time. Believe me...you'll be a rich man in no time. All ya have to do is get more of these crystal enhancements and they'll be in the black market in no time._" The buyer said from Ronaldo's spy device before cheering and whooping from Ian was then heard. "I knew it...the whole election was a cover-up just to get those gemstones." Ronaldo said in shock. "Oh, this can't be good." Sadie gasped.

"As soon as you're elected, we'll give the word, and the reconstructin'll be all yours." The buyer said before they walked away with hopes to get the tools out into the black market. This was when Ian felt a lot of satisfaction coming on. "Finally, trickin' them gullible folk was easy enough to want me as their new mayor, after that we can finally turn this place into a goldmine." Ian said to his minions and his lawyer Robbie, who seemed very worried about doing it. "B-But what if we cause something bad?" He asked nervously, looking around to make sure nobody was listening to the conversation. "Ah please, nobody'll find out nothin', besides as mah daddy used to say it: It's all 'bout the cash, the looks, and the manipulatin' hooks." Ian spoke with pride.

"_That dark diamond woman seemed to be impressed with us collectin' them humans for her._" One of Ian's goons said on the spy device, mentioning Black Diamond, much to Zach's shock. "_She was actually. Not to mention what big teeth she had, all the better to eat them for her dinner._" Ian chuckled evilly. "I think he's mentioning about Black Diamond. But how is this possible?" Zach asked in shock. "I think...he ratted us out! He did it to become mayor from the sounds of it." Sadie said in fright. "Oh no...and if he becomes mayor..." Lars started in absolute horror before Zach cut him off. "Then Steven and the Crystal Gems are in danger." The teenager gasped.

"Besides, once we're through with that chubby kid, we'll silence him once and for all." Ian said sinisterly, causing Zach to gasp in fright. Being frightened for Steven's safety was enough for Zach to slip off the roof, taking Lars and Ronaldo with him without warning as they landed on some garbage cans, making a lot of noise in the process. "Did y'all hear somethin'?" Ian asked as he looked around the place in confusion. "Nah...I ain't hearin' nothin'." The other guard responded obliviously before they both walked off. "Ow...I think my legs are broken." Lars groaned in pain.

* * *

The next day

Everyone was ready for the election day, and this would decide who would become mayor of Beach City itself. But with everyone on Ian's side, and not as many on his, Bill felt like this was going to be a huge problem. In fact, it had taken a huge toll on Steven, who looked absolutely wrecked from helping the possibly soon-to-be ex-mayor with speaking professionally to everyone.

Zach arrived with the others a few moments afterwards, having a black eye and a few injuries on his arm from, in fact his cousin and Ronaldo were also in rough shape. Lars had accidently injured his arm and got a black eye and Ronaldo ended up in a wheelchair after both his legs were injured from the fall. "What happened to you three last night?" Nanefua asked in concern. "Eh...we were just lying on the roof and we accidently fell off." Lars groaned as he held his leg in pain.

"Ok folks. Today...and I can't believe I'm saying this...whoever is voted for mayor will be mayor. Two competitors, one winner." Robbie said, feeling like this wasn't going to end well at all. "Ugh...Ronaldo, if we lose, I just want to say...this is all your fault!" Lars said, scolding Ronaldo for messing up everything last night. "What did I do?!" "You destroyed the only evidence we had last night, you messed up everything." Sadie scolded alongside Lars. "So first up is your own mayor, _and soon to be ex-mayor._ Bill Dewey." Robbie said, pointing to Bill who waved sheepishly and began his speech.

"As mayor, I will take responsibility, not act like an idiot or stay out of investigations. A vote Dew-" Bill started, only to be met with everyone's annoyed glares, apart from a part of the crowd who were worried for their town. Bill then sighed sadly before speaking up. "Look...to many of you who are mad at me for not getting involved in the abduction investigation...I know I messed up. There's no denying it. And I honestly think Nora's a good girl and I know we can never replace her. I'm sorry for every stupid thing I've done, and I know I don't deserve anyone's forgiveness...But if you re-elect me as your mayor...I can promise you that I will do my best to make things better for everyone, new security systems, more chances for defence and even emergency sirens etc. So if we work together...I can tell you...our future will be bright. Maybe Nora will even return." He said, sounding a lot more serious for the first time in...well forever. Hearing this, everyone could fairly understand him and even felt sorry for him in a way.

Not one to want this happening, Ian got a few of his goons to secretly jeer and boo him. This happened to gain the attention of Kiki and Peedee who were suddenly shocked by this sudden outburst. "Not good..." Peedee yelped in fright. "Ahem, now it's my boss, Mr Ian Galaxy's turn." Robbie then said, presenting his own boss on the the left side of the stage. "Thank y'all for havin' me. Now, if y'all elect me as mayor, Ah guarantee that Ah will sweep up this town like there's no tomorrow. With cleaner beaches, more energy tech an' more smilin' aroun' the whole boardwalk." Ian said, making a bright and powerful false speech to everyone which made them cheer and it almost made Dewey forfit. "We must do something Lars. Do you not have anything which may help us get rid of Mr Galaxy for good?" Nanefua asked Lars in concern.

"Nothing. We don't have anything. Ronaldo sat on the camera when we landed in the trash cans." Lars said, blaming Ronaldo who pouted in annoyance. "Oh man...there's gotta be something we can do to stop this craziness once and for all." Sadie said in a panic. "I might have something." Zach then said before taking out the Hive Mind and activating it and using it.

"Yeah...mah promises, mah plans, it's all true. Apart from the fact that ya'll were so gullible to elect me as mayor. Ah mean, the only thing Ah care about is extendin' mah company around the state just for cash. And Ah also plan to get rid of porkchop jr over here after stealin' his magic stuff." Ian suddenly said, making the people suddenly gasp in shock, even Bill Dewey heard it and became angry about Ian's treachery. Steven was appauled by Ian's insult but also confused on why he was telling the truth until he saw Zach using the Hive Mind to make the cowboy tell the truth without even realising it. "Nice one Zach." He said to himself with a smile.

"Ah was even plannin' this last night, Ah've been doin' a lot o plans to ruin this city. That's why Ah ratted your kids out to that huge Diamond lady, and even the reason why Ah tried framin' Billyboy for not takin' part in y'all abduction search." Ian said with pride, oblivious to the fact that he said his plan out loud to everyone. "You see people?! That man is a fraud! Let's get him!" Ronaldo said, having known about Ian's true nature before attempting to jump him, only to be held back by Lars and Kiki. "Woah, woah, woah. Take it easy big guy." Zach insisted, as he stopped him.

After that, Ian realised what he said and immediately turned pale. "Um...did Ah actually say that out loud?" Ian whispered to his lawyer who nodded sheepishly. This was enough for the cowboy businessman to stutter in fear. "W-What?! T-That ain't what Ah meant to say to y'all! A-Ah was gonna say-" Ian was immeidiately cut off by Nanefua who became impatient. "I've had enough of this! If you want something done right, you just do it yourself!" Nanefua said to herself in anger. "Mother...please don't defend Dewey, I beg of you." Kofi insisted in worry. "I can do what I want Kofi!" Nanefua insisted as she shoved one of Ian's guards aside before heading onto the stage beside Bill Dewey. "Listen to me, all of you!" She continued as she gained everyone's attention.

"Blaming our problems completely on Mayor Billiam Dewey will not make anything better. And now we all know that Mr Galaxy is clearly a liar, a scoundral and a fraud as you now know and heard. My point that I want to make is this: When one of us suffers, the entire town suffers. When you suffer, and I mean Lars, Ronaldo or possibly even Billiam, the town suffers. So no longer can I stand by watch others being blamed...I will ask that you, everyone here today in fact, help Billiam share responsibility for both welfare and safety of Beach City. He might be incompetent, but he means well." Nanefua said, giving an emotional point to everyone before turning towards Dewey himself.

"Y-Yes! Exactly my what I'm saying, thank you Nanefua. If we work together…I can promise you…we can make Beach City safe and happy once again." Bill said firmly, finally giving a good point for the last part of his speech. "Well...it's worth a shot." Sour Cream admitted with approval. "Yeah...if we help out, then we'll be fine." Kiki added in agreement. Even everyone else began to approve of Dewey's new attitude for the town. Steven was relieved by this, but Zach was even more relieved that he was able to save his friend's life from a later threat.

"Wha...are y'all kidding me? Y'all would re-elect that coot? He was thuh one responsible for all thuh madness in thuh first place!" Ian insisted in anger, slamming his fists on his podium. "Only because you locked him in his office closet so you could get away with everything!" Lars growled, causing everyone to gasp in shock at this sudden reveal before he threw a hard can at Ian and it actually hit him directly on the head, sending the cowboy businessman tumbling off the stage. "Yeah...so what if Ah did? He had it comin' what's the difference?" Ian asked, sounding like he didn't care as he got to his feet.

"My twin sister is stranded in space because of you!" Steven complained sadly, mentioning his own sister. "Plus, ratting out my friends, the people from Beach City and my cousin to Black Diamond is what caused this!" Zach growled in anger. "Y'all mean that tall dark woman with a diamond on her stomach? That was ya sister's fault if she's stuck in space. Anyhoo, so what if I ratted a lot of kids out to those aliens?! All Ah wanted wanted was the mayor's spot for this town. Robbie, tell 'em!" Ian confessed in anger.

"Y-Yes sir. Folks, don't be decieved, Mr Galaxy was actually at a business meeting during the time of the kidnapping and-" Robbie started, attempting to get out a few papers as proof, only to be cut off by the jeering and booing aimed towards him. "Ah, enough with the lies!" Peedee complained along with Ronaldo. "You don't know what you're doing you idiot!" Barb complained in annoyance. "Stop defending him or I'll sue you!" Mr Fryman yelled, feeling like the lawyer was lying. "It's...the fact that...he was only... Guys, come on, I just work as his lawyer." Robbie insisted in defeat, getting Ian to groan in annoyance.

"What you did was dishonest and cheating, Mr Galaxy." Nanefua complained in disappointment. "And to think I was nearly thinking that I caused all this!" Bill said in disappointment as well. "So if I were you, I'd pack it up and get lost cowboy!" Sadie then growled in anger as many of the people complained against Ian as well. "Besides...I think it's safe to say that we'd rather have Dewey for mayor than you...you're just a liar and a bully who doesn't care about anyone. Plus...you're not that good of a cowboy, you're more like a bandit who's after money!" Steven admitted angrily, taking Ian by surprise.

The cowboy businessman then looked towards the people who were glaring right back at him, signalling that he had lost their trust, even fueling his his inner anger for losing what he wanted. "Fine! Then y'al can keep your stupid job Billy-Boy! Besides, Ah've got better places to ruin for money anyhoo." He growled in defeat before walking away with his guards and his lawyer following behind him in shock. Even Dewey was shocked by this sudden forfeit.

Ian then turned around one last time to the people before speaking. "But mark mah words, this ain't the last that y'all have seen of me. Ah will be back t' get ya idiots, and yer stupid magic families. Whenever y'all are workin' yer pathetic lives away, when y'all are goofin' off to parties of funfares or wherever, Ah'll be battin mah eyes at each and every one of Y'all, and especially…_Ya_." Ian said threateningly before pointing at Steven who glared back at him. And with that said, Ian got into his personal vehicle and left Beach City.

All the while, the people looked at each other in surprise and a lot of satisfaction. "Well...thank goodness that guy's not going to be mayor." Mr Fryman said in relief. "And to think...he'd rat us out to that huge scary woman just to become Mayor." Kiki added in disgust with Jenny nodding in agreement. "Wait...so...we're allowing Dewey to stay as Mayor?!" Kofi asked in disgust, only to be hit on the head by Nanefua. "Of course Kofi! Unless you have any problems with that." She said in annoyance. "N-No. Of course not mother." Kofi said sheepishly. "Don't you all have work to do then?" Nanefua asked everyone else in expectence, causing everyone to look at each other in confusion. "Uh, I think we do Ma'am." Mr Smiley said, knowing that he had a business to run as well.

"Well get on with it then." The old woman insisted, getting everyone to get on with their daily lives once more without anyone complaining. Sighing in relief, Bill then got off the stage where he met up with Steven and Zach. "Well...thank you Steven, and you too Zach. I don't know what you did, but it worked." Bill said, grateful that both Zach and Steven had even helped out. Zach put the Hive Mind back into his hoodie as Nanefua came over to the trio.

"Mayor Dewey...I knew you would take action for taking responsibility, I never doubted it...though I'm surprised on what Mr Galaxy had against you." Nanefua said, congratulating Dewey before asking about Ian. "Well that's the thing Nanefua, Ian's never one to change his mind about things. When he sees something he desires, he doesn't hesitate to get it. He has an illegal business, he threatens anyone who gets in his way...yeesh. He even claims that something will be the next goldrush." Bill explained, shivering at the mention of what Ian did in the past.

"Anyway, I came over to you to offer my assistance to you. Now that you are being more responsible, I wanted to offer my help you with a number of tasks which could help Beach City, like alerting the people, coming up with a budget for the equipment." Nanefua offered, making a good offer to Dewey who saw what she was thinking. "Hmm...being true to my word, I accept your offer Nanefua. We're going to need all the help we can get. Are you sure you can handle anything?" Bill said, accepting Nanefua's offer before feeling concerned for a woman of her age. "I can handle myself if I need to." Nanefua said with a smile.

"And Zach was it? I heard you're about to get kicked outta school for something you never did, right?" Bill asked as Zach rubbed the back of his head slightly. "Y-Yeah...I haven't been home for a while because I'm worried about being a disappointement to my family." He explained sadly. "Well we'll help you sort that out immediately and show your parents that you're not a failure. From here on out, it's nothing but serious Dewey." Bill said with pride before walking away with Nanefua and Zach. "Alright, now let's see...we would need a lot of money in order to do this, but I think we can manage anyhow..." Speaking as he walked away with the other two, Bill had shown to change from an incompetent mayor to responsible mayor.

After the three people walked away to the Mayor's office, Steven then looked at his phone, seeing if Connie had texted him about their argument the night before, but there were no texts whatsoever. This disheartened him, yes she was probably really frustrated at him and didn't want his help to get better, but he also felt ashamed about yelling at her about Nora's decision and even discouraging her. "Are you gonna be alright Steven?" Lars asked Steven in concern, gaining his attention. "Y-Yeah...I'll be fine. S-See you later." Steven managed to say weakly as he walked home. "I think he's gonna need time to himself...a lot of time." Sadie said sadly as she watched Steven walk home by himself. "Who can blame him? If I got into a bad argument with you, then I'd feel the same." Lars said, putting his arm around Sadie gently.

* * *

That night

Back home

Zach was once again, staying with Steven. Of course the young boy didn't mind that at all. Steven sat on his bed, trying to Contact Connie, but didn't have any luck so far. He then tried contacting Nora, but he was forgetting that she was in space, so there wouldn't be any reception there. He then took notice to the picture of himself, Connie, Nora and Zach from the night of the Cool Kids' party. Even if it wasn't upsetting, the thought about being without Connie really got to his head.

_"__WELL MAYBE THAT WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED NORA HADN'T BEEN SO NAIVE! OR MAYBE IT WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HADN'T HAVE GIVEN PERIDOT THAT LIST! OR MAYBE EVERYTHING WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF I HAD MET YOU!" _That didn't sound anything like the Connie he knew, in fact, he saw in her face and knew that she was absolutely horrified at saying those words. He was hoping to call Connie to see if she was feeling ok, but then stopped after trying to reach her the second time, not wanting to start up another argument with her. He then remembered that Nora's decision was strangely the cause of all this, but couldn't blame his own sister for something that would help her brother get home safely.

"Feeling ok?" Purity asked, appearing at the bottom of Steven's bed. The young boy wasn't that surprised by her constant flash stepping, in fact he wasn't even minding it whatsoever. "Oh, hey there Purity. Yeah...I'm ok...well...no not really." Steven said, really not sounding like he was ok. Purity managed to catch onto Steven's thoughts before speaking. "It wasn't your fault what happened on Homeworld." Purity said, mentioning the events of when Steven and the gang went to space. Hearing this made Steven upset. "I know...it's just...can't believe I just...left my own sister behind for dead! I never should have brought her along!" Steven sobbed stressfully as tears came flooding out from his eyes at the thought of Nora dying. "That possibility was inevitable Steven. There was nothing more you could have done." Purity said, taking off her cloak and sitting beside Steven to comfort him as best as she could.

"Nora knows your a good brother. She wouldn't have done that if you weren't there for her." Purity spoke with words of encouragment. "I know...but I can't help but feel sad that we left her behind. Also I'd ask you to bring her back right now, or Lion for that matter, but silly me, that's not how your powers work." Steven said, feeling like he was being stupid after chuckling sadly.

"While that is true...it never holds me back from using them to help the gems and people I care for. But the less I use of them, the better." Purity said as she rubbed Steven's hair. "How do your abilities work?" Steven then asked gently. "This is how they work: Everytime I use one Omni-Ability and use it strongly, my gem would always crack, no matter how small it is. Slowing down the process with time manipulation often helps, but it delays the unstopable." Purity explained, revealing why she needed to go to Rose's fountain.

"And...what happens if you were to constantly use your omni-powers?" Steven asked nervously, feeling like he already knew the answer. Purity then gave the young boy a serious look before sighing. "I would break. Even trying to heal the corrupted gems all at once or changing something would be enough to fracture me." She explained with another heavy sigh. "If only I had Lion, I could reach out to my sister and talk to her about what's been happening. Oh man...he should have been back by now." Steven said, feeling like Lion should have returned to him, after all, he would have allowed Steven to check up on Nora without hesitation.

"Lion is ok...but, I'm surprised on what he's up to and why he hasn't come back yet." Purity said, using her omni-senses to find Lion, only for her gem to crack slightly. "Easy...if you say using your Omni-Powers makes your gem crack then you shouldn't use it right now." Steven said with concern for Purity before he healed her gem. "It's alright Steven, only using it gently doesn't cause that much of a fracture." Purity spoke with a little smile forming across her face. All the while, Topaz was listening into their conversation, mentioning about how Nora got stuck on Homeworld in the first place.

The fusion felt like it was her own fault, even though Nora chose to stay behind. "What have I done...?" Topaz said to herself sadly before weeping to herself. "I-Is there a future where I ever see Nora again?" Steven asked in concern. "You will see her again. It may be a while, but you _will_ see her again." Purity said with reassurance. "But for now...I think it's best that you keep your guard up. I fear other forces may have been alerted to our presence." The Omni-Diamond said with concern. "What forces are we talking about?" Steven asked in a little bit of concern.

* * *

Galaxy Corperations

Ian's limo had pulled up to into the garage before he angrily stormed out of the vehicle and into his office. On the way up, everyone was greeting him, but was also scared of his anger issues too. The cowboy burst through the doors of his own office and kicked over a plant out of rage.

"Rgh! Ya idiots! We done blew it! Ya guys were supposed t' make sure Ah was elected mayor of that stupid town!" Ian growled in a fit of rage, taking his anger out on his minions and guards after throwing his hat to the ground. "Um boss. Y'all were the one who gave it away, all of it actually. Ya revealed that ya ratted those theyer people out to that theyer huge woman." Ian's guard pointed out sheepishly. "Ah'm well aware of that, but how?! Was Ah injected with truth syrem?!" Ian growled, accusing one of his minions of backstabbing him.

"N-No, of course not. You weren't injected by anyone...nor were you breathing in or even drinking anything with Truth Syrem." Robbie explained to his boss who was confused by this. "Well then how did Ah tell the truth then?" Ian asked, calming down a little but still pacing around his office. "Ah really dunno boss. It's not as if it was magic or anythin', right?" One of the guards spoke sheepishly. Robbie then noticed the office phone ringing and thought that it was best to tell his boss. "Um, Boss, your son is on the phone, he sounds pretty angry about your denial of being mayor." Robbie spoke, causing Ian to groan in frustration.

Ian groaned in annoyance before facepalming himself. "Tell him Ah'll call him back." He said as he hung up on his own son for a while. "For the moment...Ah think we done found our proof that there is something else in Beach City. This maybe be magic we're dealing with." The cowboy then said with an impressed attitude. "M-Mr Galaxy?" Robbie asked in concern. "Ah heard 'bout the mysteries of Beach City, even heard about that chubby kid with the jewel in his belly. If we find more of them rocks, then this could be the next goldrush, and we'll be first in line for the taking." Ian said, feeling a sense of satisfaction rising up within him.

"But what if disturbing them causes something bad to happen?" Robbie asked with concern. "Ah who cares? It's for money anyway." Ian said, placing his two feet on his own CEO desk. "Good point boss...but how do we know where to start?" One of Ian's guards asked in confusion. "Simple: We start...by askin' a little damsel in distress, who our young little pork belly's got a crush on. By that, Ah mean this girl." Ian explained, pulling up a picture of someone Steven knew all too well: Connie Maheswaran. "Um...Miss Connie Maheswaran?" Robbie asked in concern, not liking where Ian was taking his plan. "Yeah...from what a little birdy told me, Universe and Maheswaran argued the night before." Ian explained with a grin.

Unknown to them, a robotic spy camera was spying on the conversation. "If we find that porkchop's girlfriend, we blackmail him into tellin' us everythin'. Then we steal from wherever that stuff is and use it for our own gain." Ian said with a dark chuckle.

* * *

Elsewhere

Somewhere up in Washington D.C.

Someone was watching Ian Galaxy from a spy camera. They heard him complaining about not being mayor and how his plans had backfired on him. There was even talk of Gems being in Beach City, making it a great amount of interest. "Hmm...this is everything we need to know. And proof that we aren't the only ones..." The figure spoke, sounding like a man in his early 30s with a very serious attitude.

"This is more serious than we might have guessed...Right, send in your team. Get your hands on every bit of info you can find." The man said, ordering another man to investigate Beach City. "Yes sir." The other man said, immediately getting up from his seat and walking off with a few other members of his team.

* * *

**This is just the beginning...**

**From here on out, it looks like everyone is out to get Steven.**

**Stay tuned, and I'll update the story soon**

**Negaboss2000 out **


	3. Raising the Barn

**Ready for the next chapter?**

**If so, a little bit of a warning:**

**It may be sad**

**Anyways, Enjoy ^^**

* * *

**Raising the Barn**

A few days after Dewey won his election against Ian Galaxy

Steven sadly looked at a picture of Connie which he kept on his shelf. The young girl hadn't called him in a few days, not since their argument about Nora staying behind on Homeworld. As if things weren't bad enough, the feeling of guilt and the thought about Connie not speaking to him was doing his head in, it had been for a while and affected his feelings.

* * *

**Flashback:**

_Two days ago..._

_Things weren't looking bright for the young boy. He already had problems with Connie not texting him back after their huge arguement, so the gems and him devised a plan to get him to cheer up by bringing him on vacation to this cabin outside of Beach City...but it didn't work, and Steven still felt misserable, even when the other gems tried talking to him. __To make matters worse, Bismuth felt impacted after failing to destroy Black Diamond. It was shown when she tirelessly attempted to create the Star Slicer, but every failed version made her more angry._

* * *

_Eventually...the two came clear when Pearl tried to speak about something that she couldn't bring herself to do...especially when Steven was worrying over Nora's safety too._

_"What did you have against Nora? Why were you trying to get rid of her?" Steven asked in annoyance as he continued to stare away from Pearl. "Oh...no. It's not because I wanted to get rid of her...it's because I was afraid she would ruin everything. It's because-" Pearl started, but strangely cut herself off with her other hand as she tried to explain to Steven._

_"Pearl...what are you doing?" Bismuth asked in confusion. "I-" Pearl tried to speak. "Are you trying to make me tell the truth by making me feel guilty?" Bismuth asked nervously. "I-!" Pearl said once more, still covering her mouth everytime. "Oh come on, what are you saying?!" Bismuth asked, finally at her wits end until finally she blurted out something that she was hiding._

_"CONNIE HATES ME!" "I FEEL LIKE I'M WEAK!" Steven and Bismuth both said at the same time before gaining each other's attention. "Wait. You have problems too?! Woah...did we both...ok...maybe we should stop." The duo both said in unison before stopping awkwardly. The duo later explained to everyone else that they had problems since Black Diamond had invaded Beach City, only they were affected harshly by the outcomes._

* * *

_"Why did I get angry at her?! I should have kept my mouth shut." Steven cried to himself as Purity as by him once more to comfort him. "I'm sure Connie knows you didn't mean it. Stressful situations tend to cause fallouts between friends, but I'm sure she did not mean anything that she said either." The Omni-Diamond responded with reassurance._

* * *

_"Steven...did you actually leave Nora behind on purpose?" Greg asked his young boy, who looked away slightly. "I-I didn't, Nora insisted on staying behind. I tried to take care of her, but I couldn't even do that...I just really miss her." Steven confessed sadly, looking up at the stars to where his sister was. "Yeah...I know how you feel. But you did try your best." Greg said, stroking his boy's hair and understanding how he felt._

* * *

_He also thought Connie was calling him when they reached the cliffside, but it turned out to be Zach on the phone who said that Mayor Dewey had helped him get back into school with a strong argument on how good he was. Steven was glad about Zach getting back into school, but it didn't help that Connie hadn't responded to him. Zach was able to say some reassuring words about Connie to Steven and also said that she just needed time, but it was only able to help a little bit._

* * *

The thoughts about what happened during the vacation had upset him a little. Sure it was good that Bismuth's problems were sorted out, but it didn't help that he was feeling a little worse until his dad told him that he sometimes had to let it go for a while.

Steven then slided onto his back off the wall and onto his bed. "Ugh. Steven...come on, you can get through this. She'll call when she's ready. For now, you just have to let it go." The young boy said to himself in annoyance, not wanting to sound needy towards Connie if she did ring.

He then sat up, picked his phone up and placed it in his pocket before getting off his bed. He then took notice to his ukulele and decided to use it, after all, it had been a while since he had played anything on it.

* * *

Outside

Steven sadly dragged his ukulele across the sand and headed over to one of the temple's hands which lay within the sand. One the way over, he saw Bismuth, testing ideal copies of the Star Slicer, but she was much more calmer and was carefully examining each copy to see if it was strong enough or not.

The rainbow gem waved at him, and Steven waved back with a smile...but a weak one to the exact. After sitting down at the palm of the temple's hand, Steven then began playing his instrument as he looked up into the sky and sighed.

"_~ I wish I could tell you that I-_" Steven began, only to be cut off when his phone buzzed, interrupting his song and startling him in the process, even causing him to fumble as he tried to answer the phone before catching it. "Ok, Steven. This is it! Connie's finally ready to talk again. No expectations. Just let her say what she needs to say! Then when the time's right, apologise to her." Steven said to himself, preparing to talk to Connie...

Only to realise that Peridot was calling him once he looked down, causing him to sigh sadly as he answered the call. "_Steven! It's us!_" Peridot said with a chuckle as Lapis and Imperia came into view along with Topaz, who waved sweetly.

"Oh, hi, Peridot. Hi Lapis. Hi Topaz. Hey, Imperia." Steven said, not wanting to show his sadness and keeping a nice calm conversation. "_Don't forget Pumpkin!_" Peridot said, holding up Pumpkin as her veggie-pet barked at Steven. "Heh, Hi Pumpkin!" Steven responded, beginning to feel a little better as Peridot turned towards Lapis. "I told you he'd answer." Peridot said with excitement.

"It's so good to see you. I'm glad you're ok, and thank you so much for saving Peridot, I don't know what happened, but I'm glad you helped her." Lapis said in absolute relief while thanking Steven and hugging Peridot. "Heh, it's no biggie." Steven responded, rubbing the back of his head. "Also, why did you bring that Topaz back to Earth, and how long has Starby been back?" Lapis asked, gesturing Topaz and Starby. "It's a long story-" Steven said sheepishly before Peridot interrupted. "Enough of that for now. You have to check this out Steven!" Peridot said before doing the unthinkable: Shapeshifting her arm.

"Wow..." Steven said in amazement. "I know right? I thought I wasn't able to shapeshift, but now I am." Peridot said in excitement. "Anyway...Lapis was absolutely worried that you lost your phone on Homeworld, but I said _I'm sure he just needs time to calm down_." Topaz explained from what Lapis told her. "She was freaking out for a few hours, but we calmed her down nontheless." Peridot explained further.

Hearing this, Steven realised that he forgot to see Lapis after the whole Homeworld adventure and blushed in embarrassment. "S-Sorry about that you guys. I haven't been to see you because...There's been...a lot going on." He confessed sheepishly. "Oh? What happened? It's alright, I won't judge you." Imperia asked, curious to know more about what happened. "Well, Connie and I got into a really bad argument and Nora's-" Steven began, only to be cut off by Peridot.

"Actually...she meant tell her about our adventure in space." Peridot corrected. "And can you start from the beginning please?" Lapis added politely. "Uh, ok. I was trying protect Beach City, so I came up with a plan and distracted those Homeworld gems long enough for Bismuth and-" Steven began, oblivious to the fact that Lapis was with the gems when they attacked on Aquamarine's ship.

"Lapis was there Steven." Peridot groaned in annoyance. "Oh, right. Um...anyway, I tried to escape with Connie, Nora, Zach, Leggy and Peridot, but Black Diamond caught us and we were taken to homeworld. We got seperated, Topaz, Leggy and I were put in a big empty room, and we ended up on trial in front of the Diamonds." Steven explained to Lapis and Imperia. "On trial?" Lapis asked in fright as her eyes turned orange briefly while looking at Peridot and Topaz. "What?" Imperia asked in shock. "In front of the Diamonds?" Lapis asked, demanding to know the truth as she came close to the camera.

"Yeah, and-" Steven started, but was cut off by Lapis. "You were in front of Blue Diamond?" She asked as her eyes briefly turned orange once more. "Along with Yellow, Black, Green and Red. But it's ok. I was thankful Red Diamond was defending us. Then with Peridot's help, we escaped on Black Diamond's palanquin and went underground where we-" Steven expalined, but never got to mention the Off-Colors when before Lapis cut him off. "You ran from Blue, Yellow and Black Diamond?!" Lapis asked, her eyes now flickering between blue and orange.

"Um...yes. Why do you ask?" Steven said, sheepishly worried about what was happening. "Guys, we have to leave Earth now." Lapis said to the other gems before abruptly hanging up on Steven, getting the young boy to worry. "Uh oh." He said, thinking the worst.

* * *

Over at the barn

The five gems were outside the barn, arguing about leaving while Pumpkin barked. "What do you mean we have to leave? Starby and I just got here." Topaz asked in shock. "She's right to be fair. But even if we have to, what about all our crops?" Peridot added right as Steven came running towards the gems.

"Guys?" The young boy asked with concern. "Ugh, the vegetables will have to deal." Lapis responded to Peridot, not noticing Steven the first time. "Ok, ok, but uh, we're only halfway through our rewatch of CPH Season four." Peridot said, chuckling nervously. "We'll bring the box set with us." Lapis responded in a serious but quite annoyed tone. "But how are we gonna watch it without the TV?" Peridot asked, making a very good point.

"We'll bring the TV." Lapis responded with reassurance. "Ugh, this is not getting us anywhere you guys, I think we're overthinking things on the diamonds." Imperia stated, trying to calm the gang down. "Uh, Lapis? Peridot? Imperia? Topaz? Starby?" Steven asked, finally gaining everyone's attention. "Huh?" Lapis said as she then noticed Steven.

"Oh, Steven. Good. We've gotta go now." Lapis said in relief before wanting to leave immediately. "Wait a minute. What do you mean?" Steven asked in shock. "We'll find some remote spot in the universe to hide out so the Diamonds will never find us." Lapis said, explaining what she was doing. "Lapis, don't worry. They're looking for me on homeworld. They don't know we're here. We're safe. Plus, the only one who knows where we are is Red Diamond, and she's on our side." Steven said with reassurance.

"Yeah, come on. I mean, we've gotten away with way worse. They've never been able to hunt me down for my many crimes against them...until Black Diamond showed up, but we got away from them anyway." Peridot said, sheepishly mentioning the moment when she was caught before making a good point. "And I left Aquamarine and never even got shattered." Topaz said with a proud smile.

"This is different you guys! Steven is important, and our transgressions are pilling up! They're going to take their anger out on this planet, just like they did before. I can't...no. I _won't_ let myself get caught up in another war." Lapis said before beginning to sound dark as her eyes briefly glowed orange.

Her ominous voice had scared Starby and Pumpkin in the process. "Woah...that was a bit too dark, right Imperial Topaz?" Topaz whispered nervously to Imperia who nodded sheepishly. "Honestly...I don't want you guys to leave, but I'm not gonna ask you guys to stay if none you don't feel safe. If you have to go...then I understand." Steven said sadly, feeling like his life was starting to go wrong.

"Right..." Lapis said, sounding like she was going to regret leaving. "Peridot, if you want the TV, levitate it over here. Imperia and...Topaz, if you need anything before we go, then...bring it over to Peridot." Lapis then said. "Y-Yes...about that-" Topaz started, only to be cut off by Peridot.

"Hey, um..." The little green gem started before she ran inside and returning with a lot of her's and Lapis' _meep morps_ in her arms whilst having trouble holding them. "What about all of our meep morps we've made? We can't leave them behind." Periodt pointed out before she dropped all the meep morps. "We can bring them too." Lapis said to Peridot, slightly annoyed by the delay.

Hearing this, Peridot was worried. "But they're installations! They need the context of the barn! If...if-if we move them, they'll become...performance pieces." She said stressfully, not wanting them to leave the barn. "She's right you know, I've loved seeing all those morps, and-!" Imperia started stressfully.

"There's no need to get so emotional!" Lapis yelled in frustration, causing Peridot and Topaz to step back out of fear. "You're right. I'm sorry." Peridot said sadly. "It's ok you guys. Performance art isn't bad, it's just misunderstood." Steven said, comforting Peridot in the process. "I dunno what that means, but I think it's good." Topaz said with relief.

"Hmm, maybe I can do something." Lapis said to herself before walking past Steven and the others. She then used her hydrokinesis to raise the barn by using the water from within the lake beside it. "Gah! Our smaller-than-average-lake!" Peridot yelped before noticing the water which was able to separate the barn and the ground from the Earth itself, managing to also raise it in the air.

Peridot, Steven, Topaz and Imperia were amazed by this and even Pumpkin barked at it. "There. Now we can bring our whole life with us: You, me, Topaz, Imperia, and all of our things!" Lapis said cheerfully. "Right...right! But we could've used my Foot Cruiser's remote tractor beam function for that, couldn't we?" Peridot said before geturing her Foot Cruiser beside the Barn.

"I prefer not to rely on technology that much...but anyways, let's get going. I'll fly, you take te Foot Cruiser." Lapis said to Peridot, wanting to leave immediately. "Already? Oh boy..." Topaz said worryingly, looking back and forth. "Wait...you guys are leaving right now? I thought that...I-I don't know what to say." Steven said sadly.

Seeing this, Lapis also felt sad that she had to leave Steven behind and immediately hugged him as he teared up. "Goodbye, Steven...and good luck." She said soothingly as Steven sniffled. "Peridot, Topaz, Imperia...aren't you guys going to say goodbye?" Lapis asked, turning towards the three gems.

The trio however, were nervous, even tearing up in the process. All three were conflicted between leaving and staying on Earth. It didn't help that Steven whimpered sadly, but after a few moments of thinking, Peridot realised something...

"Wait. Where's Pumpkin?!" Peridot yelped in fright. "Hang on, Starby's missing too!" Topaz added as she looked around for the duo. "They're not inside or on board the Foot Cruiser?" Lapis asked in confusion. "They were both standing next to me! We have to find them both!" Peridot insisted in fear.

Lapis then lowered the barn and refilled the lake. "I'll check from above for Starby, you guys search the ground for Pumpkin." Lapis said before taking to the skies to find Starby. "I'll help too!" Steven said before following Peridot along with Topaz and Imperia.

"Pumpkin?!" "Pumpkin?!" Steven and Peridot called out for the vegie-pet. "Starby! Starby, where are you?!" Lapis called out for the star ruby, not noticing that she had hidden in the lake beside the barn and looked right at the Foot Crusier with a hurt expression.

* * *

All around the barn

Peridot, Steven, Topaz and Imperia kept searching for Pumpkin, but had no luck finding her so far. "Pumpkin? Pumpkin!" Peridot called out, trying to find her pet. "Pumpkin?" Steven called out as he came from out of a bush.

* * *

Away from the barn

The gang still tried to find Pumpkin, but still couldn't find her. "Pumpkin?" "Pumpkin?" Steven and Peridot both said, still calling for the vegie-pet. "Um, here pumpky, pumpky." Topaz said meekly before she whistled for Pumpkin to come to her. "I don't think that'll work Topaz." Imperia said sheepishly.

* * *

Upon the hill

Steven slowly walked to the top while looking for Pumpkin. "Pumpkin! Where are you buddy?" He asked with worry before he noticed Peridot running frantically past Steven to the top of the hill along with Topaz who shook the ground in the process. "Pumpkin!" The two gems yelled before looking back at Steven with distessed looks.

* * *

Through a woodland area

Steven and the other gems walked through the woods, thinking that Pumpkin might have run through the place. All the while however, Steven was sad about the possibility of his two friends leaving Earth, after being through everything with them, from releasing Lapis and catching Peridot to going on adventures with them.

"You know, I'm really going to miss you guys when you leave for Space." The young boy admitted sadly. "Well that's a given, seeing as how we've been through everything together." Peridot replied with a smile. "Plus, I'm a very precious gem. Without me, you would've crumbled under The Cluster's destructive force or have been smushed by Jasper." Peridot said gratefully. "I'm also gald that we met Steven, even if it was for a short time." Topaz admitted sadly.

"Me too...and to be honest, I'm not sure that I-" Imperia started, but was cut off when Steven spotted something. "There!" He said, pointing to something which looked like Pumpkin. "Pumpkin!" Peridot said with relief as she rushed over to get Pumpkin...only to find that it was just a basketball and grumbled uncomfortably.

"Is she ok?" Steven asked with worry before Peridot revealled to them that it was only a basketball. "Oh...it's a just a sphere." Topaz responded sadly. "That's a basketball, Topaz." Steven explained sheepishly.

As the search continued, Steven dribbled the basketball and even allowed Topaz to have a go at it. She was amazed by it and kept dribbling it for her own entertainment. "Pumpkin!" Steven and Peridot called once again for the vegie-pet. "Pumpkin, where are you, you little vegie-pup?" Imperia called out.

"You know, I can probably still help you when I'm out in space. All I have to do is just video chat from my tablet!" Peridot suggested, but oblivious to an important fact that Steven learned when he was ejected into space. "Uh, t-there's no Wi-Fi in space. Believe me, I've tried that myself." Steven explained to Peridot sheepishly.

"Well, maybe it's best if we can't reach you. If the Diamonds do show up and destroy the planet, we'll never know!" Peridot said morbidly, oblivious to what she just said and even concerning Topaz in the process. "Are...you sure you're ok Peridot? Did anything happen a few days ago with Lapis?" Imperia asked in concern.

"Well...from what I heard, Lapis was very agitated when she learned that we were on Homeworld. But as soon as I got back to her, I was bending over backwards to try and make her feel better. Watch this." Peridot explained before bending over backwards, litterally, in an unnatural kind of way.

Imperia, Topaz and Steven then laughed at Peridot's attempts. "That's a good one Peri." Topaz chuckled. "Oh yeah. Lapis loves this." Peridot said before groaning in pain.

* * *

After getting out of the woods

The gang were talking about what would happen when Peridot, Imperia and Topaz left for Space. "Maybe it's good that we'll be away from everything where nothing can change, no surprises or developments. Lapis has been through so much, _despite the fact that I've never seen her like this_. She needs consistency." Peridot said before Steven stopped. "But...what about you guys?" The young boy asked in concern, making a good point and causing Peridot to look at the ground as if she was unsure what to do.

"To be fair...I'm not sure that leaving is a good idea." Imperia confessed sadly. "Y-Yeah...I came here because Nora gave me a chance. If I leave...then I've wasted it." Topaz added, mentioning Steven's twin sister and making him feel sad too.

Peridot couldn't blame the two gems, especially when they weren't overly wanting to leave Earth. At that moment however, the green took notice to something and jumped at Steven in fright, causing him to drop the basketball. "Another kindergartener!" She yelped, looking at what appeared to be a produce stand.

"Fresh produce?" Steven read the sign before realising something in fright. "Pumkin is fresh produce!" Steven and Peridot ran towards the stand, worried sick about what would happen to Pumpkin, and it took it's toll on them when they became tired of running.

However, as Imperia and Topaz came over to the shorties, they saw that the produce wasn't pumpkins, but rather... "It's just onions?" Steven said in confusion. "Um...are these friends of Pumpkin?" Topaz whispered to Peridot sheepishly. "Pumpkin would never associate with this inferior sphere" Peridot said in disgust.

"Then who would-?" Imperia started in confusion, only to be cut off when Onion popped out from behind the stand, causing the gang to yelp in fright. "Uh, Onion? What are you-? Hey is that my hat?!" Steven said before noticing his straw hat in annoyance. Onion then took notice to Topaz, who sheepishly waved. "Um, hi?" She said before Onion immediately ducked behind the stand out of fear. "Well...someone's still afraid of me." The yellow fusion said sadly.

* * *

Back at the barn around the early evening

The gang arrived back, having failed to find any signs of Pumpkin or Starby. "Well that was a bust." Steven said sadly. "We'll never find Pumpkin." Peridot added with the same level of sadness as Steven.

"Peridot..." Steven started, only to stop when the gang heard a rustle within the corn, causing them to look towards it and see what looked like Pumpkin's tail sticking out of it. "Pumpkin?" Peridot asked in sudden annoyance as she suddenly went over to the cornfield.

Pumpkin whimpered and ran back into the cornfield. "Have you been here this whole time?!" Peridot said in annoyance. "You mean..." Topaz started. "She was hiding?" Imperia finished in shock. "Come on Pumpkin. We need to leave." Peridot demanded, only to hear a whimper from her veggie-pet.

"Pumpkin!" Peridot growled in annoyance before running after her into the cornfield. "Don't you walk away while I'm talking to you." She continued as she grabbed Pumpkin within the field and dragged her out much to Steven and Topaz's nervousness. "Sometimes, you _need_ to do things you don't want to do, like get jettisoned into space to live forever on a floating rock with a barn, and just us as for as long as time exists! Lapis needs all of us!" Peridot growled, trying to drag pumpkin and accidently revealling something to the others.

"You don't...want to go into space?" Topaz asked in surprise. "Peridot, can't you give Pumpkin a second?" Steven asked with concern. "She's doing it to herself! Pumpkin, do as you're told!" Peridot demanded before losing her grip on Pumpkin's tail and falling backwards onto the ground.

Pumpkin then ran over to Steven and jumped into his arms out of fear. "Woah...Peridot. It sounds like you don't really want to go." Steven said upon hearing the words from his friend. "It's alright...I won't judge you if really never wanted to go." Imperia said sincerely.

Hearing this, Peridot then got to her feet and walked towards the gang and Pumpkin. "I'm sorry, Pumpkin. I didn't mean to yank you around. It's just..." She started as Steven handed Pumpkin over to her. "We don't have a choice." Peridot finished sadly, making Topaz and Steven shocked. "What do you mean by that?" Steven asked in confusion. "Peridot, I think we'd better talk to Lapis about this. I think all the worries in her head have made her a bit...nuts." Imperia suggested as Peridot kissed Pumpkin on her forhead.

"I can't..." Peridot admitted sadly. "What? Why not?" Steven asked in concern as he and the others followed Peridot back to the barn. Around that moment, Lapis had come back and landed in front of the gang, having failed to find Starby of course. "Oh thank goodness. You guys found her." She said in relief.

However...the gang didn't say anything and merely stared at the water gem blankly. "Now, let's go!" Lapis said as she lead the gang towards the barn and raised it once more. However...Peridot nervously turned around and to look at Steven along with Topaz and Imperia, only to get a similar response from the young boy.

Now shivering, Peridot bravely decided to do the one thing that she was afraid of doing: telling Lapis the truth. "Wait...Lapis? Pumpkin doesn't want to go." She said nervously, getting Lapis to turn her head towards Peridot with a confused look on her face. "Pumpkin doesn't know better, but we do." She said firmly before looking back at the barn.

Peridot couldn't take it anymore and finally gave in to holding her feelings back. "Actually, I...I don't want to go either." She admitted firmly. "The same goes for me." Topaz finally let out sadly. "And me too." Imperia said with a heavy sigh.

"What?!" Lapis said in absolute shock, losing focus on the barn, causing it to crash back onto the ground and causing a huge rumble in the process, as she turned back to face Peridot, Topaz and Imperia. Pumpkin, frightened by the rumble, jumped from Peridot's arms and run behind Steven for protection.

The young boy then looked back at Peridot and the others with concern, he even saw Topaz gulping nervously. "Guys, what the heck are you trying to say?" Lapis asked worryingly. "It's just, if something happens on Earth, I want to be here for it." Peridot yelped, explaining what she wanted. "Same here. I don't fancy being on a floating rock in the middle of space to be honest." Topaz added meekly. "And I can't abandon the Crystal gems." Imperia confessed firmly.

"But...No! Why are you telling me this now?!" Lapis asked in absolute shock. "Because...we're about to leave!" Peridot squeaked in fear. "But isn't that the worst time?" Lapis asked, making a good point after raising her finger and having a blank expression.

Steven meanwhile, chuckled nervously whilst afraid of the outcome. "I don't think this'll end well..." Topaz whispered in a panic. "Then...why didn't any of you guys tell me sooner?" Lapis asked with concern. "Well, there were many things I should say, but I figured that they'd upset you, so I don't say those things." Peridot explained, feeling a bit nervous about her words.

"Peri, that's lying!" Lapis pouted accusingly, making Steven nervous. "Rgh! Ok then! The truth is, I don't want to leave! I want to be here if the Diamonds do come to wipe this planet off the star maps, I want to be here to fight for it!" Peridot shouted, suddenly taking Lapis by surprise.

Steven was also worried by this and Topaz was alrady backing off along with Imperia. "But I suppose you wouldn't understand, because I just got back and already you want me to leave, well you're on your own if you think you think you can control me!" Peridot yelled, pacing back and forth in rage. "That's now what I-" Lapis started, only to be cut off by Peridot. "You don't know what ANY OF US have been through! Topaz has barely escaped Homeworld from that Aquamarine clod, Leggy was shattered and then became a Star Ruby and Steven is upset because of the fact that Nora stayed behind on Homeworld and Connie called him out for being ungrateful!" Finally, Peridot stop yelling and took a lot of breaths to calm down.

Upon hearing what happened with Steven however...Lapis was stunned by it. Nobody told her about what happened since Peridot got back from Homeworld, and she also noticed that Nora wasn't around her brother since he showed up. "Wh-What?" She said in disbelief as she turned her back on Peridot with her eyes glowing orange with fear. "It's true...Nora decided to stay behind to let us come home. But once we were home, Connie and Steven had a huge argument which drove them apart..." Peridot sad sadly.

Lapis looked at Steven who sadly nodded upon hearing about his sister and Connie. "S-Steven, I swear...I didn't know. I mean, nobody told me-" She tried to say, worried that she had taken things to far. "It's fine...it's just, I'm having a hard time coping with everything after what happened." Steven sadly spoke.

Lapis looked away briefly before looking at her friends and realising what was happening. "I'm not forcing anyone to do something they don't like...it's just...I'm afraid. If I do get caught in another war...something worse might happen to me, to us." Lapis confessed, telling the reason why she didn't want to get caught up in a war. "I promise Lapis, you're not gonna get stuck in a mirror again, because I'll be with you all the way." Steven said with a soft smile.

"And I will to." Peridot said with reassurance. "Same here." Topaz said with a wink along with an approving nod from Imperia. "But how? I've lost friends during the war and I'm not a good fighter, so..." Lapis started stressfully.

As she spoke however, a laser was aimed directly at the water within the barn's lake and manipulated it in order to raise the barn itself as Lapis talked. "Lapis, put down the barn, we can talk this out. I promise." Peridot insisted, thinking that Lapis was raising the barn herself. However, the water girl immediately turned behind her and saw the barn being lifted up. "T-This isn't me." She insisted, holding her hands up as proof.

Lapis was telling the truth, because somehow the water was moving by itself, and this time it was causing a few bits to fall off the barn and even broke the pipes which lead into the lake beside it.

The gang then looked towards her Foot Cruiser, which was already halfway from the ground and lifting the barn up with what they assumed to be the remote tractor beam that Peridot was talking about. "Um...who's driving my ship?!" Peridot asked with concern before seeing the one gem who wasn't with them.

Leggy was in the cockpit and looking down at Lapis angrily, possibly because of what Lapis was saying to her. "Oh...she was there the whole time..." Lapis said sheepishly. "HEY! I THOUGHT YOU WERE OK STAYING WITH US YOU CLOD!" Peridot yelled up to Starby in anger. "YEAH! SO DID I!" Starby yelled out in betrayal as she prepared to leave with the barn and the Foot Cruiser.

"Oh no...she must have thought that Lapis was too controlling!" Lapis said in realisation. "Oh my stars...we have to get our home back!" Peridot squeaked in fright. "We have to reassure her that it was a misunderstanding!" Topaz yelped in fright. "Then we'll need Azurite to catch up with her, Lapis, Fuse with-" Peridot started firmly as she attempted to grab Lapis' hand, only for the water gem to grab Steven's instead. "No...we need _Spirit Quartz_ for this." Lapis insisted, making Peridot a little nervous. "Alright...but we'd better be fast about it." She said as Peridot nodded firmly.

Steven then fused with Lapis into Spirit Quartz and constructed a dolphin while was able to catch up with Starby. "Starby! Come back, Lapis wasn't tryng to control you!" Peridot yelled towards Starby. "LIAR! I'll be Lapis put you up to this so she can use us all as her slaves!" Starby yelled with tears forming in her eyes as she prepared to go to space. "Starby, I swear...I wasn't serious, I was just angry at Peridot." Spirit Quartz said, pleading for Starby to stop from Lapis' side, but it was no use. "Just leave me alone Lapis! You're a terrible gem, you always will be Lapis!" Starby blurted out in anger and sadness.

Hearing this from the Star Ruby however, Spirit's eyes suddenly widened in horror and glowed a bright orange color before she suddenly split apart. Mainly because of Lapis' trauma coming back to haunt her. Unfusing however, caused Steven and Peridot to fall to the ground while screaming.

"Steven! Peri!" Lapis shrieked in horror as she prepared to fly down, only to stop when she had a chance to take the barn back, but she'd have to let her friends die. It was too much, but following her heart, Lapis dove down sharply towards Peridot and Steven, and right before they hit the ground, she grabbed them both and used her wings to coushion the landing.

"Are you guys ok?" Lapis asked with worry, hoping that the fall was too much. "I'm fine Lapis...but what about-" Steven started, only to stop when Peridot cut her off. "You...you gave up on the barn...to help me?" The green gem said in disbelief. Lapis then watched in disbeief up at the foot cruiser taking off further into the sky and vanishing from view. This in turn, caused her to tear up. She felt like a failure, having failed to both calm Starby down and get the barn back. "N-No...I couldn't get it back..." She said, sniffling sadly.

Peridot on the other hand, was furious at this and slapped Lapis' arm off her as she got up and kicked the dirt. "Well...now we're officially homeless!" She angrily yelled, taking Lapis and Steven by fright as Topaz, Pumpkin and Imperia ran over to them. "What happened? Did you get the barn back?" Topaz asked with worry. "No, of course not! And all of this happened today because _someone _suddenly turned around and wanted to run away from the diamonds like a coward!" Peridot growled in frustration, calling out Lapis in a fit of rage.

Unfortunately to her, Lapis heard it and felt discouraged by it, even letting tears stream down her face at the mention of being a coward. "N-No, Lapis, I don't mean it like that. It's just-" Peridot suddenly said in realisation, only to be cut off by a really sad Lapis. "No...I needed to hear it." Lapis responded tearfully.

"I was selfish to you guys. All because...I-I really don't want to get caught up in another war..." Lapis explained, really losing herself over the situation. This even took Peridot by shock after thinking that she hurt Lapis for good. "Lapis, I-" Peridot started, but was cut off by Steven. "Lapis, we'll help you fight if you need it. Plus...we'll keep you safe no matter what." Steven said, promising to help out his friend.

"But how do you know that? I can't even control my own trauma!" Lapis asked stressfully, feeling the anxiety rising within her as she saw the frightened looks upon her friend's faces. "No...you're all better off without me…I'm useless." Lapis said, saying things that weren't true, trying to keep herself from crying as she spread her wings. "Steven...I'm so sorry about what happened with Nora." She managed back to Steven through her tears before flying off into the distance, finally allowing her tears to break loose.

It was surprising why she didn't leave Earth, but it was still sad that she left the gang nonetheless. Peridot wanted to go after her, but didn't have the heart to do so as she looked town with tears droping onto her visor. "Woah…things went from bad to worse and I had nothing to do with it." Topaz said, really sad that even happened. "Come on you guys, let's got." Steven said before leading them to the warp pad.

* * *

Back at Steven's Home that evening

Steven had just finished setting up a bed in his bathroom for Peridot. "Ok, you guys are all set up, and you can all stay for as long as you need." He said as Peridot hopped off the toilet and walked towards the mattress. "Wow. Thanks." Peridot responded glumly as she lay face down on the mattress. Steven couldn't blame Peridot after what happened, having lost her home and Foot Cruiser and now Lapis left out of sadness.

Steven. Imperia and Pumpkin then sat next to the bathtub in case their friend needed anything. As for Steven, he took out his phone to see if Connie had contacted him, but to his sadness, there were no missed calls or texts, apart from the ones that he sent.

The young boy then sighed sadly and decided to send a text, one which was different from the rest of them, but very heartbreaking for Steven to write. _'If you don't want to talk...I understand. If I'm bothering you, I'll stop with that. And if you don't ever want to see me again...then you don't have to keep it silent.' _He wrote sadly before he sent the text, figuring that this is what Connie might have wanted.

"What do we do now?" Peridot asked sadly. "Well...I think I might head off to bed. See you guys in the morning." He said before walking out of the bathroom. "See you in the morning..." Peridot said weakly along with Imperia, who waved slightly.

Steven got ready for bed, and saw his friend Zach, passed out on his couch after a long day at school and working the shifts for his cousin Lars. The young boy didn't try to wake his friend and let him sleep. Steven then went to bed turning his phone on silent.

However, he was oblivious to the text on his phone which silently went off after he went fell asleep. It wasn't from Connie, or Ronaldo, rather...it was from an unknown number. The text wasn't a long sentence, but it immediately got to the point. _'Connie got your message. She doesn't hate you at all.'_

* * *

Meanwhile on Homeworld

The Diamond Throne Room

"And so…our moment of triumph has come. With the sudden departure of the villainous Rose Quartz, we can finally stand proudly and continue with expanding our glorious empire." Yellow Diamond said to all the homeworld gems across every homeworld Colony across the galaxy. All the while, Red Diamond felt ashamed of being a Diamond if it meant constant Colonization. "Any defective gems who emerge from any planet's crust, any gems who fuse with another gem, or any gem who attempts to rebel against homeworld's ways, will be shattered on sight. Now back to work instantly!" Yellow continued in anger.

All gems immediately got back to work while the Diamonds continued broadcasting for their celebration speech. Across the cosmos, a lot of defective gems were found and prisoned by commanders, quartz soldiers and other gems while the rest hid out of fear. It was terrible in Red Diamond's view, and she sighed heavilly with only her Pearl to comfort her.

* * *

While this happened, the Diamonds had brought Goldsmuth to their throne room to be congratulated, even the other gems like Aqumarine, Hessonite, The Ruby Squad and even Squaridot, who were after Rose Quartz, were brought to the throne room for their rewards too. Yellow, Blue, Red and Black Diamonds were preparing the broadcast while the other gems were preparing to give their glorious speech to all of homeworld's colonies.

"Ah, Goldsmuth. My most loyal Bismuth. I really must confess you made me frightened and angry when you had those shatter wands mixed up. But now that Rose Quartz and her allies are destroyed, all is forgiven." Hessonite said with satisfaction as she, Aquamarine and Bloodstone were given their spa treatment. "Yes, good on you Goldie." Aquamarine added with such satisfaction from her new topazes.

"Huh?…Oh yeah. S-She's shattered alright. I-I mean, she can't break any further than the damage our robonoids can…do to her. B-But even if she did survive, w-we can shatter her ourselves, right?" Goldsmuth stammered with a nervous expression as she paced around before facing her superior who looked a bit surprised at first. "I suppose so…" Eyeball stated with suspicion.

"Hey look! The royal Jades are here!" Goldsmuth said with a fake excited voice, trying to avoid the subject on Rose Quartz, gaining more attention than before. "Gold…?" Hessonite then said in suspicion before following Goldsmuth over to the Royal Jades who were just entering the throne room for celebration. "I gotta tell you, I'm so honored to have you girls here tonight." Goldsmuth said, getting the Jades to giggle at Goldsmuth's awesomeness. "Goldsmuth?" Hessonite asked again, getting a little impatient. "I have to tell you, it'll be so good do be in your company girls." After speaking, Goldsmuth was forcefully guided to the pedastool where she would explain how she defeated Rose Quartz.

"Rose Quartz is shattered, along with her band of off colors, right?" Hessonite asked rhetorically with pride before Goldsmuth was broadcasted live. "Are you prepared to tell all of Homeworld how it happened? I need all of our colonies to hear your words. Now tell us...how did you shatter the villainous Rose Quartz?" Yellow Diamond said with such satisfaction, excited to hear what Goldsmuth had to say along with all of Homeworld, but what they all heard next, was nothing like they expected. "Um…did I actually say that Rose Quartz was shattered?" Goldsmuth asked sheepishly to all the colonies, causing the gems to suddenly sharply look at her in shock.

"SHE'S STILL ALIVE?!" Hessonite growled, clenching her teeth in absolute anger before she, Aquamarine, Squaridot, The remaining Ruby Squad and even Bloodstone glared at the golden Bismuth, even the Diamonds, minus Red Diamond, were furious at this. "We've been tricked, yet again?!" Doc gasped in anger as Eyeball growled. "Well…s-she wasn't a-actually the one who was shattered. Plus, Jasper and Drusy Quartz a-are missing." Goldsmuth stated in her own defence. "Gold…!" Aquamarine growled, her eyes lit with pure fury. "How could you keep this from us?!" Squaridot asked coldly.

"I-I wasn't keeping it from you, I was j-just givin' you the heads up. Ya know, in case she ever came back to homeworld to take down the authority…" Goldsmuth stated sheepishly. "She can't come back here!" Hessonite stated in annoyance. "Yeah…it'd be pretty negative for other gems, especially while those Pearls are currently recording the whole thing to all gems." Goldsmuth then said awkwardly despite the obvious fact. "Ugh, you think?!" Eyeball asked rhetorically.

"HESSONITE!" Yellow Diamond bellowed in anger, getting the commander to nervously look around in fear along with Goldsmuth and the others. "Y-Yes my Diamond?" The commander asked nervously. "You made us believe that Rose Quartz was shattered when she's still out there?! You've humilliated us! I thought better of you!" Yellow Diamond bellowed in anger, oblivious to Red's smirk. "I-I swear...I was not trying to mock your luminous essence my diamond. Goldsmuth is just...a bit clumsy when it comes to things." Hessonite insisted nervously.

"This is serious! How dare you make fools of us in front of all our gems." Blue added in anger before Red calmed her down. "Easy Blue...don't stress yourself too much." Red insisted with worry. "I'm fine Red...but thank you for your concern." Blue said with a smile. "I swear upon my gem, none of us knew that Rose Quartz was still alive, and we're as shocked as you are!" Squaridot insisted, cowering behind her limb enhancers. "Y-Yes! I blame my old Topaz for this!" Aquamarine spat in fear.

At that moment, a white bubble appeared and opened to reveal (1)a Pearl who had light grey hair styled into twisted buns on that were held on either side of her head, light grey eyes, white skin, she wore a black bralette-like top with grey sleeves-like gloves, a white tulle skirt which left her front legs exposed, a pair of black shorts which paired with grey stockings and light gray flats. Her gem was on her navel, but the thing which stood out the most, was her cracked eye, or rather the cracks which were covering the eye and and spreading to her chin, her hair bun.

"Hessonite and all gems who seek revenge on Rose Quartz, My Diamond is most unpleased with your incompetence." The pearl spoke, sounding very unhappy. This made the gems quite nervous upon hearing this. "P-Please...it wasn't our fault. I beg of you, give us one more chance." Aquamarine pleaded for her very gem along with the others right as the pearl prepared to fire a white blast at them. "S-She speaks the truth! Rose is still a threat and someone has to get rid of her!" Eyeball then pointed out in stress. "Very well...one last chance, do not disappoint my diamond again." The pearl said firmly, ceasing her white blast before leaving the throne room with a smile upon her face.

The gems sighed in relief before then looking back towards the Diamonds, who were unhappy still. "Don't think you're through with us. I want you to hunt down that murderous gem and bring her to me so I can break her myself! Do I make myself clear?!" Yellow growled before leaving the throne room with Blue, who huffed in anger and Red, who smiled in relief that Steven was still alive. Black Diamond looked back at her allies before her eyes glowed the same orange glow which triggered her victim's fears. "Meet me at my ship. I will assist you in finding Rose Quartz or any trace of her. Do not make me impatient, or else..." Noir spoke before leaving as well.

After that, Hessonite turned towards Goldsmuth before she went up to her and yanked her by her apron. The commander or the other gems weren't at all please at this sudden reveal and were even blaming Goldsmuth for it. "Well, thanks you your incompetence, we're going to have to go out there to find Rose Quartz and her minions to destroy them all! For your sake and the sake of your gem, they'd better be broken Goldsmuth! But I swear on my gemstone...if she's still in one piece, you are Doomed! NOW LET'S MOVE!" Hessonite said threateningly as she drew Goldsmuth closer to her face by yanking her apron.

* * *

Meanwhile...

Near the docking bay

A lone figure quickly ran towards the nearest hiding spot in the night time, hoping not to be seen by anyone else. That figure, was the twin sister of Steven, Nora Universe. She had been on the run for a couple of days after finally being able to get back onto the surface of Homeworld. She hid in the spot, looked to see if nobody was around, and thankfully there wasn't. Nora then signaled her _other friends_ that it was safe for them.

From behind a pole, a gem came rushing out towards Nora. That gem(s) was none other than the Rutile Twins who first helped Nora and her friends. Ruty and Tila, as Nora had come to name the twins, ran towards Nora's hiding spot swiftly before immediately hiding there and signaling the other Off-Colors to follow them. Rhodonite, the fusion of a Ruby and a Pearl, immediately came running out along with Padparadscha, the Sapphire who could only view the past, and Fluorite, the fusion of six gems. Together, they made their way over to Nora and the twins without hesitation.

However, Rhodonite saw a shadow and thought it was one of the diamonds. She yelped in fear before unfusing into her two components. A ruby in a Pink Diamond outfit and a Pink Pearl with pink outfit. "Sorry...we unfuse when we're very nervous." Rhodonite's Ruby said sheepishly before refusing with her pearl-friend to form Rhodonite once more. "I predict Rhodonite unfusing out of fear. It's only a shadow Rhodi." Padparadscha said with a giggle as Rhodonite gave a stink eye to her.

The gems then joined up with Nora and the twins as she gave them the estimated distance to the docking bay. "Good work you guys...only ten more miles to go before we reach the docking bay. Then we have to get past the guards who are guarding that shuttle." Nora said with a smile, causing the others to groan in frustration. "What?!" Rhodonite pouted. "Oh come on!" Ruty groaned in annoyance. "She's joking you guys, we're nearly there." Tila said with a laugh, causing Ruty to groan in releif.

"But there is one problem though..." Nora admitted sheepishly. "Oh? What. Problem. Would that. Be?" Fluorite asked in concern. Nora then pointed towards the Jasper guards who were guarding the entrance to the hanger. "Oh no...we'll never get past them like that!" Rhodonite yelped in fear. "Hmm...maybe there _is_ a way to get past them." Ruty said, figuring something out. "You're right, Ruty. What if one of us...were to disguise ourselves as a gem and ask for permission to get inside?" Tila then added, making a really good point. Nora and the others thought for a moment, and then brought her friends in to explain what her plan was.

* * *

In the Docking Bay

The door to the entrance opened and Ruty and Tila both walked in, acting and even shapeshifted as a normal Rutile. Boy was it lucky that the two Jaspers were gullible enough to believe her lies or things would have been really messy. Once she was out of sight, Ruty and Tila changed back to their usual selves before going towards the window and throwing down an elevator Robonid, which she had found in the storage room, for her friends to climb up into the hanger.

"Nice going girls...I thought you'd never be able to do it." Rhodonite admitted sheepishly. "Thanks." Ruty said, rubbing the back of her head. "It wasn't easy, believe me." Tila added as she sighed in relief. "All we need to do now is find the right ship and we're out of here." Nora said with enthusiasm, looking around for the right ship. "Ruty and Tila have done it Nora!" Padparadscha said with excitement.

Nora then set her eyes on what looked to be a shuttle to escape on. There were already supplies being loaded onto it and Nora decided that it was the best ship to escape Homeworld on. "Alright here's the plan...we hijack that shuttle and fly back home in it. First we'll need to distract those guards and we're good to go." Nora explained to her Off-Color friends. "Have you ever stolen anything before?" Ruty asked in concern. "N-no...first time actually. My dad would kill me if he found out." Nora admitted with a shiver.

"Don't. Worry Nora. Everything. Will be. Alright." Fluorite said with reassurance. The whole group then started the distraction, by actually causing a huge fight between two Ruby groups. This was enough time for the group to get onboard whilst the gems in the hanger went outside to see what the commotion was about. As they got onboard, Fluorite tried to enter, only to discover that she was too big to get on board. "Oh boy we've got a problem here." Rhodonite groaned in annoyance. "I predict Fluorite will try to enter the shuttle, but she'll be too big." Padparadscha said, annoying Rhodonite in the process.

"We. Need. Another. Ship. This one. Is too. Big." Fluorite said in worry as she tried to find a way to enter the ship without breaking it. "We don't have time to argue, Fluorite." Ruty said nervously as they tried to look out for the gems coming back. "Just separate and when we arrive at the nearest colony, you can re-fuse, I promise." Tila added with insistence. "Oh...Very well." Fluorite said in agreement before unfusing into her six components: A trio of the three triangular gems, one pink, one green and one blue, a lilac gem with a curly hairstyle with a high bun who wore winged shoulder puffs and a dress with a skirt that resembled an 8-spiked gear, a little dark blue gem that was half the size of a sapphire and a very big green gem with the rhombus gemstone on her navel.

The six components, unfused from Fluorite, then entered the ship without any problem and were preparing to get ready for take-off. "Tourmalines, get yourselves and Iolite strapped in. Me and Titanite will sit up front and keep an eye on Nora." The lilac coloured gem said to the trio of gems, called Tourmalines. "You got it Jade." The pink tourmaline said as she strapped the little gem, called Iolite, into her seat and got into her seat beside the other tourmalines.

All the while, Nora got into the pilot's seat and prepared to take off...only to find that the shuttle was more complicated than she thought. "Um...Nora...are you sure you know how to fly this thing?" Rhodonite asked nervously as she looked around. "Y-Yeah, sure. It's just like riding a bike...but in space." Nora responded sheepishly, only to find that the controls were a lot more complicated than she...oh who was she kidding? She couldn't fly a ship even if she wanted to. "Nora doesn't know how to fly the shuttle." Padparadscha said sadly, making Rhodonite a bit nervous. Ruty and Tila however, decided to give Nora a bit of a hand. "Here Nora, let us do the flying." Ruty said, offering to take the controls along with Tila.

"Woah...you know how to fly this thing?" Nora said in amazement. "Why yes Nora." Ruty said in agreement. "Us Rutiles are somewhat good pilots." Tila explained, activating the correct controls for the shuttle. "They're also created to use their abilities: self-duplication, anemokinesis and duality abilities." Fluorite's Iolite said, having a good deal of knowledge of course. "Well...it's a bit difficult with us, seeing as how our self-duplicating is a bit...flawed." Ruty admitted sadly. "W-Why would you think that girls?" Nora asked with concern.

"Something went wrong with our duplication powers, and we ended up merging together." Tila explained, looking sadly at her twin. "But...I'm glad we have each other." Ruty said gratefully, being positive again. "Now then...let's get going." Tila said before activating the controls for the shuttle. "Alright, engines up and running, gravity settings adjusted, all systems go for launch." Ruty said as she nodded to her sister.

"And off we go." Nora said, holding Rhodonite's hand for comfort. The twins then pushed the levers and the shuttle immediately took off from the docking bay, leaving the atmosphere of homeworld. This gained the attention of a lot of gems who only entered the hangar, including (2)a green gem who seemed of more importance and who was approaching the shuttle. "Wh-What just happened?!" The gem yelped in shock. "I don't know, I think...someone has stolen your personal shuttle!" A homeworld Citrine answered nervously. "We've got to get after them! Prepare my Sun Incinerator!" The gem ordered in annoyance "Yes Emerald. Right away Emerald!" The citrine yelled in panic before rushing off along with her superior.

* * *

All the while, Tila looked at the maps of the Caste System's domain and tried to find Earth, but discovered that it was a lot more difficult than they thought. "Right...we'll have to make for the nearest colony and settle down to look at the maps." Tila said coming up with a plan to get back to Earth. "But there's one problem Tila..._we'll need to go through multiple colonies to get to Earth and I'm not sure how long that will take._" Ruty said, whispering to her twin.

"Um...you do know where we're going, right girls?" Rhodonite asked with concern. "Y-Yes..." Ruty responded with a sheepish smile. "Kinda." Tila added nervously, having no clue which way they were going. Hearing this, Nora was quite concerned about the adventure. "Oh no...this might not go as planned." Nora said to herself sheepishly as she and her new-found friends set off on their journey back to Earth.

* * *

**(1) White Pearl cameo**

**(2) And Emerald too ^^**

**So...that's about it for this chapter**

**Stay tuned in the meanwhile**

**Negaboss2000 out ^^**


	4. Connie SD2 - It's a Wonderful Universe

**Ready for the next part of AOTG3?**

**It's been a while since I've done a story on Connie too**

**Also, please note...this takes place during Dewey Wins and before Kevin Party.**

**Please enjoy anyway **

* * *

**_Things were falling apart in my own life_****_...and i_****_t all started when I got home after getting back from homeworld..._**

* * *

**Connie Maheswaran School Days 2**

**It's A Wonderful Universes**

**Starring:**

**Grace Rolek as Connie Maheswaran**

**And ****(1)Sophia Lilis**

**As Rogue**

* * *

Maheswaran Residence

After Steven returned from Homeworld

**_I was in such a sour mood, I didn't feel like talking to anyone for the rest of the night, not after the argument that Steven and I had gotten into._**

A pink portal opened up and Lion jumped out, with Connie holding on. When Lion stopped, Connie got off him roughly and boy was she in a sour mood. "That...that jerk! He just yelled at me over something that Nora decided! Rgh! I oughta-" Connie growled to herself as she took out her phone and shut it off in an instant, not wanting to speak to anyone for the rest of the night. She was about to continue as she tried to go inside but was stopped when she heard Lion's growl, getting her to turn back towards the Pink Lion.

**_Lion was pretty cross at me for some reason, but I knew what that reason was._**

Lion frowned at Connie, disappointed in her for hurting Steven despite realising that she didn't mean to do it. "Don't look at me like that Lion. Steven's the one you should be mad at! He's absolutely ungrateful for Nora's decision and he even compared his actions to mine!" She pointed out in annoyance, but it still didn't stop Lion from glaring at her. "Ugh, Fine! Be that way then. Just...go back to Steven so I can spend the rest of my life _without_ him!" She yelled, instantly rushing up to her door and shutting the door on him.

* * *

**_I didn't even mean anything I said towards Lion or Steven, but he just kept sitting in that spot, for a while, a very long while._**

Connie went inside to see her parents waiting for her, and boy were they worried as heck. "Connie!" They both said in relief, hugging their daughter. Connie would have been shocked by the hug, but she was too annoyed to even care right now. "We were told you were abducted, I thought it wa someone playing a prank, do you have any idea how-?!" Priyanka started, stressfully glad that her daughter was home, only to be cut off by Doug.

"What she means is, we've been searching for you for a while and we feared the worst. But hey, it could've been worse, at least you weren't here doing boring paperwork." Doug explained to Connie, much to Priyanka's annoyance, however, Connie wasn't ammused by her own father's joking expression at all. "Um...sorry, that fell flat." Doug admitted, sheepishly rubbing his head.

"Anyway, your friend from Beach City, Sadie...I think, said that you were back and that you were on your way home." Priyanka then said before noticing Connie's sour mood that she had since she got home. "Yep, I'm home. _No thanks to that jerk._" The young girl said, muttering the last part to herself. "Connie, speak up, you know I can't stand you mumbling." Priyanka groaned in annoyance. "Oh, well I'm sorry. But I've been yelling at Steven for being ungrateful about his sister's decisions!" Connie said, at first calmly, but within the next second she yelled stressfully.

"What?! Did he do anything to you?!" Priyanka asked in suspicion, thinking about hitting Steven for hurting her own daughter. "No, that's not-no, you don't get it." Connie grumbled in annoyance. "Don't take that tone with me young lady, or do I have to get th-" Priyanka started, only for Doug to cut her off. "Woah, woah, honey, don't get too harsh, I'm sure there's a reasonable explai-" Before Doug could finish, he ended up being cut off himself. "Look...I don't want to talk about it. I just want to go to bed. Please...?" Connie stressfully, but calmly spoke to her parents, who both looked at each other with a bit of concern themselves.

"Alright...also, you still have School in the morning, so don't think you're getting off that easily." Priyanka sighed, not wanting to stress her daughter out anymore than she already was. "Alright...goodnight." Connie sighed before heading upstairs to bed with her parents watching her.

Connie entered her room after getting changed for bed, she closed her door, set her bag down beside her bed before looking at something, it was the glowing bracelet that Steven had given her when they first met.

* * *

Flashback: The day she met Steven

_"We can be friends." Steven said to Connie, making her blush._

* * *

Connie immediately snapped back to reality before she got angry at the thought of Steven and swipped the bracelet off the table. The bracelet didn't fall into the bin, but rather, it did fall into Connie's bag without her even knowing about it.

"RGH! DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HIM?! THINK I CAN'T HANDLE MYSELF?! HOW DARE HE EVEN SAY THAT ABOUT ME! NORA STAYED BEHIND AND HE'S WORRIED ABOUT HER SAFETY MORE THAN US GETTING HOME?! I THOUGHT HE'D BE MORE HAPPIER THAN THIS! WHY'D HE COMPARE HIS ACTIONS TO MINE?! WHY WOULD HE PREFER TO LOOK AFTER NORA OVER GETTING HOME?! AAAAAAGH!" She yelled, raging out in her own room before slamming her face into a pillow, punching it and screaming into it. Even her own parents and Lion could hear her raging out about what happened. "Should we be concerned about her?" Doug asked sheepishly. "Perhaps...but maybe let her do her own thing for now." Priyanka suggested with concern.

**_Yeah...I just had to let all that anger and frustration out of me, but I still didn't feel better afterwards._**

The young girl finally calmed down about the whole arguement after a while, too exhausted to even get angry and realising that it wasn't on Steven or herself. "Ugh...just calm down Connie...it was just one decision that was Nora's choice. It's not an excuse to lash out at Steven. Ugh...how could I break my promise to Nora just like that? No, just calm down about it and everything will be back to normal in tomorrow." She said to herself weakly, trying to think about what she said and thought that maybe things would be ok in the morning as she said.

* * *

The next day at school

**_Yeah...I was wrong. Things aren't fixed THAT easily._**

Things weren't alright the morning. She had just gotten back to school and already things were problematic. Connie overheard a few teachers talking about Zach, and were excited of the possibility of him being expelled, a few girls were upset that Nora was nowhere to be seen and as for Connie, she had an essay to get done within a few weeks. It may have seemed like pleanty of time, but the problem happened when she got into class.

After Connie got to her class on time, right before break time, there was a bit of a delay in the middle when the teacher suddenly stopped giving the lesson to her students, it was mainly because she was trying to find a way to calm down after hearing something to do with Nora's absence. "Now Class...as you all know...your classmate Nora...well, she's gone missing. I had a call from her father last night and he said that she's gone missing without a trace." Connie's teacher said, trying to pull herself together.

A lot of kids whispered amongst themselves with worry for Nora. Connie however, stayed quiet, not wanting to tell the other kids what had _actually_ happened with Nora. "_I hope she's ok..._" Connie thought to herself, beginning to worry about Nora. "Oh no..." "Poor girl..." Will she be back soon?" Many of the other students said in worry, making Connie feel a bit more guilt.

"But, I'm sure she'll turn up sometime soon. In the meantime, I have an assignment for all of you." The teacher said, gaining her class' attention, apart from Darren and Cadence of course. "I would like all of you to work on an essay for the next few weeks on the changes in your life and what can happen. About 5000 words or more if you'd llke." After being told this by the teacher, a lot of students groaned. Connie, on the other hand, was stunned. Sure she had done pleanty of essays in the past, but one on the changes in her life? Man, that was going to be hard to figure out, even if it took a few weeks. "Now come on, it won't be that bad. Also, I'll have your class President, Jessica Andrews, check up on how well you're all doing and can even give you a hand too." The teacher said, gesturing a student who didn't seem to care about the other students.

The bell then went off, indicating that it was break time. "Alright class, that's pretty much it for this lesson. Remember to get that essay done for Friday in the next few weeks." The teacher said as her students as they all left. On the way out, Connie decided to ask Jessica for a bit of help, sure in the past she had a bad relationship with her, but it was worth asking for help.

"Um, Jessica, I'm...not sure I know where to start on the essay." Connie admitted sheepishly. "So? How is that my problem?" Jessica then asked with a scoff. "Well, I usually like knowing where to start." Connie explained, saying how she usually liked to work. "Just wing it. Or better yet, figure it all out on your own. After all, I heard you're the smart one in class." Jessica said, refusing to give Connie a hint on how to start. "But...I can't do this. If I don't know where to start, I wouldn't be able to start at all." Connie said stressfully, only resulting in Jessica getting a smug idea before turning back towards Connie with a false angry look upon her face. "You are going to get this essay in by Friday in a few weeks, otherwise I'll just have fail you." Jessica said threateningly before walking out of class with a smug look upon her face.

All the while, Connie was already annoyed, having being refused for help by Jessica and unable to find a way to start off the essay. She then walked out of class without another word.

* * *

Out in the hallway

Connie walked by herself, feeling a little lonely without Zach, who wassuspended, or Nora, who was currently stranded on Homeworld with her Off-Color friends. She needed help with this essay, and she didn't have any of her friends to help her out, somehow she felt like she didn't want their help either.

**_Honestly, I didn't know what to do. And I think I was avoiding my other friends because of everything becoming more and more serious in my life, like it was changing for me too fast and there was no way for me to catch up._**

Connie then heard her phone buzzing in her pocket and took it out to view who texted her. The text was from Steven, who had only texted her just now. _'Can't hang today. Mayor D's getting blamed for Gem stuff, some evil cowboy businessman is trying to get into office.'_ It read, making Connie sigh in relief about not seeing Steven today, but at the same time, she felt sad...sad that He, Nora or Zach weren't with her like usual, or even talking to them properly for that matter.

"Whatcha doing girl?" A voice suddenly said from behind Connie, frightening her immediately. Connie then turned to see a girl behind her, a girl who was taller than her and shorter than Zach, as she'd say it. She had red hair with purple streaks which was tied into a low side ponytail, beautiful emerald eyes, freckles on her face, a couple of earrings in her left ear, wore a dark purple kitty hat, a magnifying glass shaped necklace, a pair of goggles on her head, an elbow length purple shirt under a violet lightweight cardigan, Blue denim shorts, killstar sun moon leggings and a pair of black knee length boots.

"Rogue, don't do that. You scared me half to death." Connie groaned in annoyance, only resulting in the girl, known as Rogue, giggle. "C'mon girl, I've only seen you for the first time in...well forever." She said, following Connie despite her annoyance.

**_That's Rogue. She's one of my original childhood friends who I met on a trip to Ireland. I was happy being with her for a while and solving mysteries, even playing, but I haven't seen or spoken to her in years after I left though. I have however...seen her around in school, but I never tried talking to her once to be honest._**

"I had no idea you were attending the same school, I mean, what a coincidence." Rogue said with amazement, adjusting the goggles on her head at the same time. "Yeah... so strange..." Connie said, speaking in a sarcastic excited tone. "Ah...you're not inerested in that." Rogue said, suddenly dropping her ethusiasm quite briefly. "Well I wonder what gav-" Connie started, only to stop when Rogue cut her off. "Well then, you'll be excited to know that I've been working on the mystery of who framed Zach. Sure we're no longer dating, but it's the least I can do for him." She said, explaining what she was up to and even showing evidence of Zach's innocence.

**_She's what everyone calls: The Mystery Girl. And they're not wrong. If people have problems, they come to her and she does what she can to help them out._**

"Wait...seriously?" Connie asked in sudden realisation. "Yep. Plus, I've gotten info from Darren's buddies about what happened. I think I might be able to get Zach back into school, but I'll need a bit of a hand." Rogue responded, showing Connie footage on the school cameras of Darren's buddies tricking Zach into waiting in the classroom, and that completely shocked Connie all together.

"This could help Zach get back into school!" Connie said, thinking that Zach could finally attend school again with Rogue's and her help. "I'm gonna be reporting this to Principal Johnny Dew at his school tomorrow, you can tag along if you want." Rouge said, "Oh...well, I have a bit of work to get done and I don't want to fall behind." Connie said sadly. "Hey...is anything wrong? You know I can help you." Rogue asked with concern.

**_Rogue always loved solving mysteries, help, and yes...she used to date my friend Zach, but when they _****_both broke up, Zach's life began falling apart, Rogue immediately regretted doing it._**

"I know...you always like helping Rogue...but I don't think you could solve this one to be honest..." Connie replied, feeling like nobody, not even Rogue, could help her out with her problems. "C'mon, I'm all about solving and helping. I'm sure it's no biggie, so just tell me." Rogue insisted, causing her old friend to sigh before she spoke up. "I've...been having problems with a boy I know lately." Connie explained insecurely. "How so?" Rogue asked in suspicion.

"Well...it had something to do with my new friend Nora." Hearing Nora's name from Connie, Rogue figured something was up and listened. "Something happened to her, the boy and I fell out, I hit him, and I haven't spoken to him since." Connie explained, recalling what she did to Steven but not mentioning about what actually happened. "Maybe ditch him and move onto other boys? I've been there myself." Rogue said, not knowing about what happened. "It's not that...no nevermind. It's just me being stupid." Connie then insisted out of annoyance.

Rogue's phone then rang at that moment, getting the red haired girl to pick up whoever was calling her. "Hey Z...I thought you'd-what? Uh huh? Woah, that's great! I'll meet you there tomorrow." As soon as she finished speaking, Rogue put down the phone before looking at Connie with excitement. "Er...who was that?" Connie asked in confusion. "That was Zach, he said he was helping the mayor of Beach City and he also said that he might need my help too." Rogue explained before running off. "Nice catching up with you girl!" The mystery girl said as she exited the building to search for Zach.

"Well...that was pretty weird. But...I haven't seen her in a while." Connie said to herself before heading to lunch alone. Sadly wondering how it all came to this, but of course she knew how, in her mind it was obvious.

* * *

Three days later...

Connie had heard her phone going off, assuming that Steven was sending her horrible text messages. She tried to ignore them as best as she could, but she felt scared about speaking to him, even if it wasn't face to face. Of course, she had planned to tell him that she couldn't talk to him at the moment, but she figured that she'd be talking to him and wouldn't make any sense. She was so caught up in her thoughts, that she never saw Rogue coming. She appeared out of nowhere and told Connie that Zach was back into school and showed a video about it as proof.

_"...I'm telling you this is absolutely outrageous that you expell Zach for something that he didn't do!" A familiar voice yelled with in the principal's office, revealing to be none other than Mayor Dewey himself, angrily defending Zach's actions. "Oh please...that kid is weird and not to mention he's got a waste of talent too." One of Zach's teachers, Miss Edmonds, pouted in annoyance. "Honestly, were you even a kid at all?!" Nanefua asked, hitting the teacher across the head with annoyance._

_"ENOUGH! Alright, you've made your point Mr Dewey. Miss Edmonds, you're suspended for a fortnight because of your harsh judgement, and Zach...don't you have work to do?" The Principal said towards Miss Edmonds, making her growl, before he asked Zach, who looked amazed. "T-Thank you Principal Dew! Rogue, I dunno where you got that footage, but I think we're so getting back together again." Zach said, looking towards Rogue, who was filming the whole thing, and hugged her._

**_I was so glad Zach got back into school, but...hearing the help he got reminded me of something important..._**

The video ended and Connie was amazed and relieved for her friend. "I guess you proved me wrong...but I'm glad Zach's back into school." She said with relief. "It's amazing isn't it? Getting help from Mayor Dewey is an absolute help for Zach!" Rogue said with amazement and relief. "Which reminds me, when I get into Ocean City High, remind me to get back together with him. I can't imagine Z-man being smooched by all those other girls." She then said with a smirk, causing Connie to laugh slightly "Also, it was also thanks to a kid called Steven...Universe, was it? Hmm, ever heard of him?" Rogue asked Connie, getting the young girl to stop laughing entirely.

The young girl remembered that Steven was still probably upset by her actions, so she decided to do the last thing that she wanted to do and make it right. "I've gotta go Rogue. There's something I have to do so badly." Connie then said, deciding to do the last thing that she wanted before rushing off. "W-Wait, what exactly happened to No-oh...nevermind, I'll ask you tomorrow." Rogue said, trying to ask where Nora was, but never got the chance before Connie rushed off, she was annoyed, but somehow Rogue felt like this was something that she expected Connie to do.

* * *

Over at the temple that evening...

Connie rode Lion, despite him still being angry at her, to the beach house. Upon seeing the house, Connie immediately hopped off him without warning as she ran to Steven's front door. She went up the stairs, feeling that nervous feeling rising up inside, but she took a deep breath and walked towards the door. She then knocked on the door to see if anyone would answer.

**_Yeah...as much as I was really frightend about another argument, I just wanted to talk to Steven again._**

No response, she tried again, but the same result happened. Eventually, Connie decided to look through the window to see if anyone was home. "Hey...Steven? It's me, Connie. Look, I know you're probably still mad a me, but I just-" She began apologising nervously, only to stop when she saw a note stuck on her friend's window. Looking closely at the note, Connie could see that it said '_Gone Vacationing_'. She then sighed in relief before turning away, but she also felt sad at the same time. "As soon as he gets back I'll call him, no...I can't...oh no..." Connie said, panicking over what could happen.

She went back down to where Lion was, but to her expectance, the pink cat glared at her, still angry about what she did to Steven. "You know Lion...if you were with Steven right now, I think he'd be busy checking up on Nora." Connie then said in annoyance before once again preparing to leave for home. However...she sadly glanced back at Steven's home and to the spot where she hurt him.

**_This was the moment when I felt like I was wrong...wait, what am I saying? Of course I was wrong to hurt him._**

Connie felt like a coward, beginning to think that hurting him was a bad move. Not only that, but she was beginning to worry that her days with the gems were officially over, she had broken her promise to Nora and hurt her brother, not to mention that Steven would have probably told the others what happened and-no. She couldn't think like that, so she set off home and tried to think positive thoughts.

* * *

Later that night

Connie was in bed, trying to have a good night sleep, but she was having a bit of a nightmare which involved her and Steven. "Steven...no...I was worried about her too...please..." She mumbled in her sleep while tearing up. The dream was about the night when they both lashed out at each other, only after she insulted him, Steven said way worse, like telling her that she only cared about herself or that Nora would probably not survive because of her.

* * *

Connie's dream:

_She was then running away from a horde of Nora zombies, appearing from every locker or door in her school and chasing her while saying that it was her fault that she died on homeworld. No matter how hard Connie tried to hide, there were always problems for her, appearing at every corner. There were also huge pythons attacking her as well, ohhh she hated snakes, even if they were little ones, they'd freak her out._

_Connie then ran to the top of the Beach City hill, strangely after opening the door to her school to find herself there, where the lighthouse usually was. It was there that she was met by a figure that was taller than her and looked like a much older Steven, only he looked ominous, wore a dark red mask connected with a scarf, a faded red varsity jacket with faded lavender parts, a dark trousers and dark red boots. The figure also had one eye and was looking directly at the girl._

_"YOU! You did this to me!" The figure screeched, making Connie hold her ears out of pain of the loud noise. "N-No...I-I didn't mean to..." Connie yelped before attempting to run away. __The dark version of Steven, however, flew directly at her, grabbing her by the neck before then zoomed straight up into the sky until he reached beyond the clouds. "Steven, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...hurt you." Connie pleaded, trying to get herself free while having difficulty breathing. "It's too late for apologies now...and my name...is (2)DarkStar!" The dark version of Steven growled before dropping Connie. _

_Connie screamed as she plummeted to the ground, in doing so, she fell through a vortex where she was met with all of her fears, on Nora, snakes etc._

* * *

The dream was so terrifying, she woke up with a yelp of fright, panting for air and placing her hand over her heart at the same time. She looked around the room to see if that DarkStar figure was around, but to her relief, he wasn't. "It's just a dream...just a dream." Connie said, calming down before going back to sleep.

* * *

The next morning

In class

Connie tried to concentrate on her essay work, but was having a really tough time doing so because of the thoughts about arguing with Steven, or rather...what what _she _had said to him that really hurt him the most. Thinking about what Steven said to her that night...she might have hade an extreme meltdown aimed towards him, but in her heart she knew...he was right.

She was thinking more of herself than Nora's well-being back in the kindergarten, sure one could argue that Steven was ungrateful, but Connie knew otherwise. As a matter of fact, when she did yell at him, she could even see tears forming in Steven's eyes when he yelled at her and when she insulted him. Yet Connie on the other hand, she was acting like Nora being stuck behind wasn't a big deal to her, she remembered how she called Steven out for not respecting his sister's decision and, as if on cue, she suddenly began to remember what she said the other night.

* * *

_"WELL MAYBE THAT WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED NORA HADN'T BEEN SO NAIVE! OR MAYBE IT WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HADN'T HAVE GIVEN PERIDOT THAT LIST! OR MAYBE EVERYTHING WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF I HAD MET YOU!"_

"_I...I mean...i-if you really think that your sister is more important than anyone else...then there's no reason why we should be friends anymore._"

* * *

**_I was sad, I felt guilty about hurting my first true friend...and...and...I could hardly even bare to think about our friendship being destroyed forever._**

Those thoughts circled around and around in her mind countless times. She couldn't take it anymore...her arms went zingy and she found it hard to write. Then it all happened so fast. At first she had tears forming in her eyes, then she began shivering from guilt, her tears then streamed down her face and finally, she laid her head against her desk, crying. _"This...This is all my fault. If only I had pushed Nora off the ship, she wouldn't be in this situation. No...I shouldn't have gotten her into this situation!" Connie cried in her mind, trying calm down, but failed._ Somehow, this got Rogue's attention and she was about to head over to her friend, but was stopped when she saw Jessica approaching her.

"Hey, what are you going sniffling over the essay?" Jessica asked in annoyance, having been drawn to Connie's annoyance. "N-No...nothing like that. It's just-" Connie began, only to be cut off by Jessica. "Get back to work before I thump you into pieces!" Jessica demanded in annoyance, but Connie didn't respond in the slightest. "Right, that's it. Come with me you little minx!" Jessica then said, grabbing Connie by her hair and dragging her outside. "Oohoo boy, looks like Maheswooser's gonna get it now." Darren said with excitement. "Yeah...like, what'd she cry over?" Cadence asked with a snicker.

Not wanting her friend to get hurt, Rogue immediately left class and followed her whilst Jessica dragged Connie by her hair continuously. One of the teachers was also alerted to this and secretly decided to follow the girls to see what the commotion was all about.

* * *

Jessica dragged Connie outside and shoved her onto the ground.

"So you're whining about doing the essay and you refuse to respond back? I'll get you kicked out of here in two seconds flat for this!" Jessica said, ignoring what Connie was going through. "I wasn't whinning...I was just sad over something that hap-" Connie began, only to be cut off. "Oh don't give me that, ever since you returned to school, you've been acting weird, well let's face it. I think everyone would have been a lot better _without you!_" Jessica said bitterly, seriously bringing Connie down. "S-Stop..." She tried to plead.

"But I'm willing to leave it if you get your sorry stupid self esteem back inside right now and finish your essay!" Jessica said as a threat, insulting Connie even further. "Just knock it off." Connie then said, clenching her fists as rage began building within her. "So you get back inside or I will seriously beat you into the ground until that pretty little face of yours is nothing but painful scars!" Jessica growled, making the biggest mistake when she roughly placed her hand on Connie's shoulder "LEAVE ME ALONE!" Connie screamed, suddenly taking Jessica's arm and slammed her onto the ground.

"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT _I'VE _BEEN THROUGH OVER THE LAST FEW DAYS. YOU CALL YOURSELF A CLASS PRESIDENT? YOU'RE A BULLY WHO PICKS ON PEOPLE, EVEN IF THEY'RE GOING THROUGH A ROUGH WEEK! SO DON'T YOU DARE THREATEN ME LIKE THAT!" Connie screamed, unleashing all of her anger on Jessica and even taking Rogue by surprise.

At the moment she finished, Connie's eyes widened in horror as she suddenly realised what she had done...the exact same thing she did to Steven five days ago. But that wasn't the worst part, there were also a few classmates of hers that saw the whole thing along with her teacher. "Woah...cool." Rogue said, giving Connie unwanted support as the young girl suddenly teared up more and more.

**_I did it again...I know Jessica was a bit of a bully...but I couldn't believe I did the same thing I did to Steven to her, oh man...I was so embarressed and frightened, I just didn't know what to do..._**

"I...I...I'M SORRY!" She sobbed before running away from school without warning. Jeff, one of the kids from Connie's classes, tried to run after her, but was stopped by Rogue. "I'll go after, I'm much faster on foot. Can you help me out Miss?" The red haired detective asked, wanting help from the teacher, but of course...her teacher was too stunned by Connie's actions. "Some teacher you are." Rogue groaned in annoyance before rushing after Connie. The Teacher, having also heard what Jessica said to Connie, then looked in anger that was directed towards Jessica, who smiled sheepishly. All the while, Connie kept running away as her childhood friend kept running after her, with a little help from her built-in roller shoes.

**_Don't ask why I did this, all I know is that, I thought running away from my problems or people being better off without me was a good idea._**

All the while, a car followed the two girls, one of the people in the vehicle...was Ian Galaxy himself. "Alright ya bozos, after that girl and step on it." He ordered, wanting to kidnap Connie to try and draw out Steven by any means. "Y'all got it boss." One of Ian's guards said in agreement before accelerating after Connie. All the while, Rogue, being oblivious to Ian and his goons, still kept chasing after Connie, desperately trying to talk to her. "Connie, wait!" Rogue pleaded to her friend as she chased after her, but Connie ignored her cries, trying to run away from.

"Leave me alone! I don't want to hurt you or anyone else!" She said, choking on her tears as she ran faster than she ever had done before. "We can talk about this, whatever's bothering you, I can fi-" Rogue began, trying to convince Connie to let her help, but was cut off by the young girl. "You CAN'T fix it! It's not you, it's me! Me and my stupid choices! Why couldn't I have just calmed down?! This is all my fault! Now Nora is stranded somewhere on Homeworld and I just lost my best friend forever!" Connie cried, blaming herself.

"Wait, is this about that kid called Steven Universe?!" Rogue then yelled, taking Connie by surprise as she looked back to see Rogue holding up her glowing bracelet in her hand. "Wh-How did you know-?!" Connie began in fright. However, she failed to look where she was going and when she did, it was too late. Connie hit her head hard off a lampost and became unconscious. It happened slowly and she tried to keep herself conscious, but her vision slowly began to blur before everything went dark.

* * *

_Connie woke up..._

_Rubbing her head at the spot where she banged it._

**_I found myself in some kind of strange cloudy void, nobody was around to ask how I got here._**

_She looked around and saw that she was in a world filled with coloured clouds. The place seemed to go on for miles and miles and there seemed to be no end. __"Oh man this is crazy...ok, I'd better find a way home and then leave before I make things worse..." Connie said to herself sadly. "Oh...I don't think doing that is a very good idea Connie." A voice said, suddenly taking Connie by surprise. The young girl then turned around to see a little girl, around 10 years old, standing before her. She looked to be indian like Connie and had a little white sleeved gown on her._

_The little girl then approached Connie with a cute smile. __"Wh-Who are you?" Connie asked in confusion. "Why, my name is Reya, and I'm your guardian angel, Connie." The girl said, revealling her name to Connie. __"G-Guardian angel, w-wait...how do you know my name?" Connie began before asking how the little girl knew her name in confusion. "That's right. I was sent here by your grandmother, Sonia. She sent me to keep an eye on you, to make sure you didn't do anything bad." The girl said, strangely mentioning the name of Connie's grandmother. _

_"Oh...right. Doesn't...don't angels have wings? I can't see yours." Connie asked in confusion. "I don't have my own yet. But your granny promised to give me them if you helped me." Reya explained sweetly, saying that she could earn her wings. "Help you? How can I help you?" Connie asked in confusion. "By allowing me to help you." Reya said, explaining the only way to help her._

_"Well...unless you can get me a bigger suitcase for my stuff, I don't think you'll be able to help me with my problems." Connie replied in annoyance. "A suitcase? What for?" Reya asked in confusion. "So I can pack up everything and leave when I get home." Connie explained, planning to run away after she got home__. __"Please Connie...don't say that. You've forgotten everything that you've done. If it wasn't for you-" Reya began, only to be cut off harshly. "If it wasn't for me what? I've hurt my best friend and my other friend is stranded in space, she's probably dead because of me!" Connie blurted out in anger, taking Reya by surprise a little._

_"Look...I've caused enough damage, so no offense, but I just want to find a way home right now so I can leave." Connie said stressfully, trying not to hurt the little girl's feelings. __"Do you honestly think running away from everything would make everyone better?" Reya asked with concern for the young girl. __"No...maybe Steven would've been better off without me...no...maybe everyone would've been better off without me." Connie said tearfully, thinking about things that weren't true but not enough to stop her from believing that maybe she'd caused enough damage to everyone._

_"Oh good grief, Connie. Don't say anything like that." Reya said in concern as she tried to snap Connie out of doing something crazy. "Why not? It's probably true to a lot of people...isn't it?" Connie then said, thinking that she could have been right. "Hmm...this might not be so easy...how can I show you that you're wrong?" Reya said before thinking to herself. _

_After a few moments of thinking, Reya then came up with an idea, one that would prove Connie wrong. __"Very well...I'll let you decide what you want to do after this, but first...would it be ok if I show you that you're wrong?" Reya asked, holding her hand out for Connie to hold onto. The young girl was hesitant, but eventually, Connie agreed and gently took Reya's hand. "So...how are you going to-?" Connie never got to finish before she was cut off when Reya surrounded herself and Connie in a whirlwind of rainbow smoke as they were soon transported somewhere else._

* * *

_In an alternative world..._

_Connie coughed after inhailing a little bit of smoke before seeing that she was inside her own house, however...something looked a little off... "W-Where are we?" Connie asked in confusion, looking at the world...but strangely something felt off about it. "This is a world, a world in which you are never born." Reya explained sadly as the two began to wander around the house._

_"Hmm...this looks like my house, but something isn't right." Connie said in surprise, feeling a little uneasy about being in the house, with it being a bit messier than usual and things being ruined. "Indeed...without you, your parents wouldn't have someone to love, therefore they become depressed and pretty lonely, almost on the verge of losing their jobs too." Reya explained sadly, she might have been young, but that didn't stop her from explaining the sad outcome._

_Suddenly, the two girls heard weeping from one of the rooms, and boy was it frightening. "Wait...what's wrong with my parents?" Connie asked in concern. "Connie...you might not like what you're about to witness, so be prepared." Reya said as Connie cautiously began walking towards the kitchen. What Connie saw next, absolutely stunned her completely. _

_Both of her parents were arguing over having a child, or rather...Connie's mother did, whereas Doug was claiming that she was delusional. "I swear Doug, I'm pregnant, for real this time! I swear..." Priyanka insisted tearfully, trying to look happy, but not convincing Doug in anyway possible. "Priya...we've got to face the facts...we'll never be able to have a child." Doug said, trying to bring some sense back into his wife._

_"So...my parents are lost without children?" Connie asked in shock. "It's because you were the most wonderful thing in their lives...but because you were never born, both of your parents never got to experience that..." Reya explained, sadly as Priyanka and Douge then moved into the sitting room to argue even more. "Ok...this is pretty scary, even for me..." Connie admitted nervously. "And it only gets worse from here..." Reya said as she guided Connie out of the house._

* * *

_Outside..._

_Connie gasped in horror, seeing what looked to be Beach City and her neighbourhood, only...it was absolutely wrecked, with a lot of houses being abandoned or otherwise boarded up in case a huge threat came along. __"W-What is going on out here?" Connie asked in fright, seeing the whole path of destruction for herself. "This is most likely what would have happened if you never existed, therefore a lot of the destruction would have been the cause of the Homeworld gems." Reya explained with a hint of nervousness._

_Reya and Connie then walked through the neighbourhood and the little guardian angel explained a few things that happened. "Woah...I thought that Robot Shooty Thing was destroyed immediately." Connie said, recalling about the Robot Shooting Machine from Rose's Armory. "Well that's the thing Connie. That machine got out of control and destroyed a lot of the neighbourhood, mainly because Steven had a difficult time destroying it." Reya explained sadly. _

_"Right...but just because you're showing me this, doesn't mean that-" Connie started, only to be cut off a few moments afterwards. "That you still think about people being better without you? You haven't seen anything yet..." Reya said, interrupting Connie in the process as she and Connie teleported elsewhere._

* * *

_Before long..._

_Reya showed Connie a familiar face, her friend Rogue. She was __on the ground, having no home and looked in worse shape. She was litterally begging for money, but nobody seemed to care about what she wanted. "R-Rogue...what happened to her?" Connie asked in disbelief, gazing upon her friend "Your friend, Felicia, she ended up being thrown out of her house for her parents' chance to earn money. She ends up all alone after that...mainly thanks to a man called Ian Galaxy." Reya explained sadly. _

_"Th-That's a lie...Rogue's smarter than this. She and I went on a Mystery in Ireland together and we proved that the mean old lady from the Candy Store...no wait, that sweet old man ran it. Anyway, we proved that the mean old lady from the shoe shop was the real thief and we both saved the candy store." Connie exclaimed in shock, seeing the events which was nothing like she had remembered at all. "The old lady got away with her theft and Rogue failed to prove it because you weren't there to help her out." Reya explained, once again with an expression filled with sadness._

_"H-Help the homeless..." The red-haired girl pleaded, but still, nobody would listen to her, which was sad. "How could her parents do this to her?" Connie asked sadly__. "As I've said, Ian Galaxy was the cause of it all...and if you think this is sad...then just wait and see..." Reya said, guiding Connie away from Rogue and towards someplace else._

* * *

_Over at what appeared to be Connie's School..._

_The young girl and Reya went inside and found that the place was fairly ok, with the odd exception of a few kids being harrassed by Darren Galaxy and being manipulated by Cadence to do her dirty work for her. "Huh...I guess it's not so bad here." Connie said, jumping to conclusions immediately despite Darren and Cadence. "As I've said...you haven't seen nothing yet..." Reya spoke sadly before showing the young girl to the cafeteria._

_Connie saw Nora, making her glad to see that her friend was not in space...only to see something that she didn't expect to see in a million years: She was sitting all by herself. The young girl was also being harrassed by other bullies and she couldn't do anything about it. There were kids there, but...they didn't help her out. "Wh-why isn't someone helping Nora?" Connie asked in fright, worried sick about Nora. "Because you weren't there to be her friend, and without you there with her, she would've been. She never would have even met her twin brother, Steven for that matter." Reya explained to Connie, making the young girl gasp sadly._

_"I have no friends...nobody wants to be with me..." Nora cried to herself, feeling like she was all alone in the world. "Nora, I swear, It's not true! I'm always here for-" Connie started as she tried to hug Nora, only to phase right through her in an instant. "W-What the heck?! What just happened to me?!" She then said in fright, touching herself to make sure she didn't phase through her arms. "I should have told you before...people can't hear you, not can they see or feel you, since you don't exist." Reya explained sheepishly._

* * *

_Later at the Big Donut_

_Connie was glad to be back in Beach City...only, it looked a lot less friendly than she thought, mainly because there were a few oil plants around the place, replacing Fryman's Fries, Funland Arcade and even Mayor Dewey's statue was replaced by one of Ian Galaxy. "Woah...I think this is crazy." "Well...this is mainly because your friend Zach wasn't there to meet Steven, therefore your friend failed to help Mayor Dewey win against Ian Galaxy. This lead to him taking over Beach City." Reya explained, revealling the horrible story of what could have happened._

_"W-Wait...I thought Zach was able to stand up for himself?" Connie said in shock, seeing Zach sitting against the walls of the Big Donut. "Oh, he could...until the day when he got expelled for nothing, but when he learned that his cousin Lars had died on homeworld, then his life truly fell apart." Reya explained with a saddened expression, showing that his cousin Lars was trapped on Homeworld instead of Nora through a vision. _

_"__And without Zach's help, Steven had a difficult time defeating those gems on Homeworld and even failed to save Lars as well." Reya explained to __the young girl. "Oh no...you mean...my nonexistance caused all of this?!" Connie asked, shaking Reya violently despite her calm expression. "I'm afraid so..." The little guardian angel said sadly. "You see Connie...you had such a wonderful life...to throw it all away would be saddening for everyone." Reya said, feeling sad for her friend._

_Hearing that from the little angel, Connie decided to ask the last thing she wanted to know about. "Reya...I want to ask this. I'm afraid to, but I want to know...how is Steven doing without me?" She asked, making the little angel. "Oh...I don't think you'll like it very much, and I'm being-" Reya began, only to be cut off by Connie. "Reya please, I'm begging you, tell me what happened!" She insisted out of panic._

_"He's...currently at the temple. But he's in worse shape than anyone you've seen so far." Reya admitted, but this didn't go well with Connie, and the young girl shoved the little angel aside to find the young boy. "W-Wait, Connie, I don't think rushing over to see what happens is such a good idea!" Reya called out once more, really hoping that Connie would listen, but she didn't._

* * *

_Over at Steven's place..._

_The young girl looked around around the place to find Steven, nervous by the pollution on the waves around the temple. "Come on Steven...where are you?" Connie said to herself, desperately looking around until she found him, but the sight...boy was it heartbreaking. __The Crystal Gems' temple had been destroyed and Steven was left there, in tears. His friends were taken or shattered and he ended up all alone. _

_"How could this happen...? He had those gem weapons...and took my family..." Steven said to himself sadly, and from the looks of it, it seemed like Ian Galaxy had been the cause of taking Steven's family from him. Connie watched in horror and sadness, her heart now racing at a frightful pace, almost like it was about to burst out of her chest at any second. "N-No..." She said, hoping that this wasn't really what would happen, hoping that maybe the Crystal Gems would show up and tell Steven that everything was alright..._

_But they didn't...none of them did. "I don't want to end up all alone..." Steven said, hugging himself and making Connie gasp, realising that the young boy was actually all alone. Without Connie...he was sad. Without Connie, he had a hard time fighting those corrupted monsters, Lapis and that robot shooty thing. Without her...he wouldn't know what it would be like to be human. "If only I had met someone who'd understand me...maybe they could have helped me out against that horrible cowboy." He then said, feeling like everything had fallen apart forever. __It was then that the young boy heard the roaring of an engine from the skies, revealling the ships of Yellow, Black and Blue Diamonds, preparing to destroy the planet._

_"Well...looks like this is it..." Steven said sadly, accepting the bad ending of his home planet. C__onnie tried to help defend the planet with Steven, but only to find that she couldn't interfere with the whole battle. "No, Steven hang on! I'm coming!" She said, trying desperately to help Steven, but it was still no use, and the young girl was forced to watch the gigantic arm ships unleashed the cluster, thus destroying the planet and Steven himself, which was truly horrifying and frightening. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Connie screamed, finally breaking down into sadness as the whole alternate world faded around her, bringing the young girl back to the rainbow cloud land._

* * *

_Back in the land of clouds..._

_Reya was standing behind Connie, but the young girl didn't stop screaming in fright enough to notice her, mainly focused on. "STEVEN! STEVEN, I'M SORRY!" Connie sobbed, "I did warn you...I'm sorry if it was too horrifying to-" Reya began, but only to be sharply cut off by a stressful Connie, who had witnessed her best friend and possible crush, get destroyed along with Earth by the Diamonds unleashing The Cluster. "DON'T YOU GET IT?! EVERYONE WAS MISERABLE WITHOUT ME! THEIR LIVES WERE HARD AND I WASN'T THERE TO HELP THEM OUT!" She screamed in fury, continuously banging her fists against a hard cloud._

_"I should've calmed down and thought about it logically, but, no, I just had to yell at him, you're ungrateful, I said! You're a mindless, neglectful, egotistical, baby, I called him! Well, I was wrong! I was wrong about everything! Now I don't think he likes me anymore!" Connie screamed in absolute frustration, continuing to bang her fists against the cloud out of frustration, guilt and regret. __After a while, the young girl fell to both her knees and sobbed to herself. Reya then went up to Connie and stroked her hair for comfort. "Whatever happened to me...?" She asked rhetorically, looking up at her guardian angel. _

_"You've gotten so frustrated and angry about a single decision which wasn't your fault, you've forgotten all the good you've done for others. And believe me...you have done a wonderful amount." Reya explained, allowing Connie to cry freely onto her shoulder__._

**_Seeing that alternate universe...where I wasn't born...it was absolutely sad. I couldn't take it anymore, even after seeing that horrible scenario where everyone was destroyed by the Diamonds. _****_But...all of this anger towards Steven made me forget about everything we went through together..._**

_"And that being the case...I believe this is what began your relationship." Reya said, placing something in the young girl's hand all of a sudden. __Connie then held up a familiar item, her bracelet that Steven returned to her when they both met. __It was glowing, but how was it possible after it lost it's glow after a very long time? "My...bracelet." She said, looking at the __neon red-orange glow that it was emitting. _

_"You see? That bracelet was what brought you both together. Without you, Steven wouldn't have had someone to fight by his side, someone to fuse with, someone to hang out with, and more importantly...someone to care about." Reya said before pulling up a window to show all of Connie's memories with herself and Steven._

* * *

_**Meeting Steven for the first time after he saved me and became my first true friend.**_

_**Visiting his mother's secret armory with him and fighting off the robot shooty thing with Rose's sword.**_

_**Having my eyesight healed thanks to his healing abilities.**_

_**Fighting Lapis together.**_

_**Watching Under the Knife at his place.**_

_**Forming Stevonnie for the first time.**_

_**Watching the snowfall at her place.**_

_**Reading the Spirit Morph Saga and going into Rose's Room to try out a new ending for it.**_

_**Being there for Steven and wanting to help him no matter what.**_

_**Deciding to fight together for the future.**_

_**Earning Rose's Sword and finally finding a middle ground with her mother.**_

_**Going to Steven's 14 Birthday Party and dancing with him.**_

_**Accepting defeat as Stevonnie**_

_**Hunting down a corrupted gem with him**_

_**Fighting Jasper and her corrupted monster as Stevonnie.**_

_**Steven mentally helping Connie get past her mistakes and move on.**_

_**Spending a couple of days with him at The Barn.**_

_**Steven recuing Connie from the Zoomans and the diamonds.**_

_**Fighting together against Hessonite.**_

_**Going on a stakeout with her friends and her dad**_

_**But most importantly...being there for Steven to comfort him when they were kidnapped by Topaz.**_

* * *

_"You see Connie...you helped Steven, and in return he helped you." Reya said with a calm and understanding smile. "It's just like how you helped others out. And now look at what happened: Zach had done a great deed of work to help you out, you got your training from Steven's family, you spoke to your mother about her strictness and Steven...you showed him what true friendship is about." She continued, making Connie remember that nothing would have happened without her. __"Alongside that, Nora's decision wasn't your fault. I know you blame yourself deep down, but it wasn't your fault." Reya then said, saying that Connie was better than she thought._

_"I know...It's just...I felt like I threw my friendship, with her, out the window without a care. I-I broke my promise to her when I said that I'd look after Steven, so how can I make up with him?" Connie said, asking how she could make things right. "Just trust yourself. Find the courage to approach him, allow him to speak and then when the time is right, apologise." Reya said with confidence. _

_"Reya, I understand now. Everyone needs me now more than ever, so please...take me home." Connie pleaded, wanting to get home as soon as possible. __"Well then...I'll leave you to it then." Reya said, snapping her fingers and allowing Connie to float down through a rainbow cloudy tunnel. "Oh, and before I forget, your granny says to say hello to you and your parents!" Reya called down to Connie for a final time. "I-I promise, I'll make everything right, Reya! I won't let you down!" Connie called up to her guardian angel. __"Connie...Connie..." A voice suddenly spoke up as Connie was soon engulfed in a bright light._

* * *

Connie's Room

In the late evening.

The young girl stirred about in her sleep, unable to tell the difference between a dream and reality. "Connie, wake up girl." Rogue said as Connie groaned and opened her eyes and saw that she was back in her own room, but boy she had a splitting headache. "Phew...thank goodness. I was so worried about you." Rogue said with relief as she hugged her childhood friend. "Ugh, what the heck happened? And how'd I end up in bed?" Connie asked in confusion before noticing Rogue.

"Don't run off on me like that. I thought you'd know to look where you're going, Connie." Rogue said with relief before Connie noticed her friend mentioning her name. "W-Wait...Rogue, do you know me?" She asked in confusion. "Know you? I've known you since Childhood when we stopped that old shoe shop lady." Rogue said with a chuckle, giving Connie absolute relief.

"Ow...what the heck happened to me?" Connie asked in confusion, wanting to know what happened. "Connie, I tried to catch up with you when you ran out of school after beating up Jessica. You were really crying a lot, then I may have accidently distracted you, you hit your head off a lampost and fell onto the road, you nearly got hit by a car, but thankfully some blue girl with wings swooped in and saved you. But then you ended up unconscious for a whole day and we had to get you back home, then your mom took care of the rest." Rogue explained, making Connie remember what happened before she passed out.

It all came flooding back to her. Connie remembered hitting her head off that lampost before passing out. However...she was confused on one detail. "Wait...blue girl with wings?" The young girl asked in confusion before Rogue gestured a figure behind her. That figure was actually Lapis Lazuli, who seemed to look shaken up and a bit sad. "H-Hey..." Lapis said with a sheepish wave. "L-Lapis? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Peridot?" Connie asked in confusion. "Actually...I got into an argument with Peridot, then I left. I was heading towards the ocean, but then I saw you running, when you fell onto the road, I couldn't stand you being hurt and I went to help you." Lapis explained, revealling that she saved Connie from an oncoming car.

"T-Thanks..." Connie said gratefully, wanting to ask more before another voice was heard from outside her room. "Connie? Is she aw-Connie, oh thank goodness you're ok." Priyanka said in absolute relief, rushing over to hug her daughter. "M-Mom? Is-Is it really you? Can...Can you actually see me?" Connie asked frantically, trying to make sure her mother really saw her. "Well...we can't see you if you weren't born." Doug chuckled jokingly, but stopping when he saw Connie's teary expression.

"Have I really been asleep for a whole day?" Connie asked in concern. "Yes...there wasn't any time to get you to the Hospital, so I thought it was best to keep you at hime to make sure you stayed alive. Thankfully the concussion wasn't too bad and the wound's all healed now." Priyanka explained, saying the reason why Connie wasn't in hospital at all after yesterday.

"I heard you beat up Miss Jessica Andrews yesterday. This isn't in anyway how I wanted to raise you." Priyanka said in disappointment, being like her strict self once more. "I wasn't trying to hurt anyone, it's just-" Connie began, wanting to explain what happen before being cut off when her mother smiled a little. "But as I've heard from your teacher, she was hurting you. So I told her parents, and she was expelled for her rude behaviour." Priyanka explained, revealing that Jessica was expelled after what she did yesterday.

"It wasn't the first time she did this. She's also been allowing bullies to have their way...but with her gone, everything's going back to normal." Rogue explained with relief, glad that Jessica was gone. "Yeah...and might I say, it's good to see you again Felicia. I haven't seen you since Ireland when Connie was around 7 years old." Doug said to Rouge, who smiled sheepishly.

_**Oh yeah...I forgot to mention it. Rogue's real name is Felicia Games, but she prefers to have her name as Rogue.**_

"Now then Connie..." Rogue started with expectance, looking towards Connie in the process. "You owe me an explaination...on that kid." Hearing this, Connie was a little confused. "You mean...Jeff? Look, I swear I didn't want to-" She started, but was stopped by Rogue. "I'm talking about Steven Universe." Hearing this from her childhood friend, Connie froze. She teared up, realising that she still didn't have the courage to talk about Steven, or even see him for that matter.

"I...I don't really want to talk about it if I'm being honest..." Connie said sadly, unable to find the courage to talk about Steven. This also gained the attention of both her parents. "Wait...did Steven hurt you?" Priyanka asked with concern, but stunned when her daughter then spoke up after a moment of sad silence. "No, he didn't hurt me..._I_ hurt him. His arm, and his feelings..." Connie admitted, not having the strength to lie and shocking both her parents.

"What? You? Hurting someone close to you? This isn't who I raised you to be at all, Connie." Priyanka said firmly. "I didn't mean it...I wasn't thinking straight and I just blurted it out without realising it until too late." Connie said, sniffing in the process. "Oh...well, thanks for telling me. Anyway, I need to have a word with your father downstairs, I won't be long." Priyanka said, understanding what Connie meant before grabbing Doug and dragging him downstairs, assumingly because of him joking about his daughter not being born.

All the while, Connie, Lapis and Rogue were left in the room. "So...h-how's he been doing?" Connie asked, looking towards Lapis. "He was...ok when I last saw him. But I heard about what happened between you two and I felt pretty sad for him." Lapis said from what she heard from Peridot. "So...why did you two lash out at each other? Was it because of you couldn't agree on something? Or did you break up after an argument?" Rogue asked, making Connie blush a little. "N-No...neither of us had dated yet. No...it was about Nora." Connie said sadly, deciding to spill the beans on what _actually_ happened to cause the argument.

"Oh right. Anyway...where is she?" Rogue asked, wanting to get right to the point. Connie was nervous on how Rogue was going to take it, considering that she'd seen Nora and her get along so well together, but mustered enough courage to speak. "She's...stranded in space." She said, shocking her childhood friend in the process while Lapis sadly looked away. "W-What? What do you mean?" Rogue asked in desperation. "A while ago, Steven, Nora, Zach and I were abducted by these aliens called _Gems_. We had no way of getting home until Steven discovered that Nora's hair could allow us to go back home. But...doing that meant we had to leave _her_ behind." Connie explained.

Rogue was stunned, thinking that Nora was abandoned by Connie. "Steven was against leaving his sister behind, and I told him that getting home was more important. In the end, we had to leave her behind. When I was leaving, I started the argument, saying that Steven was ungrateful. He said I couldn't take care of myself or didn't know anything about him, and I pushed it too far when I punched him and said that he was useless...then I left without another word, and I haven't spoken to him since." Connie finished, finally taking a deep breath.

"Girl...why'd you not say anything about this?" Rogue asked in shock. "Well for one thing, I was a little busy. And for another...I guess I was just trying to avoid what happened all together." Connie confessed, saying how she felt while tearing up about it. "Heh...I guess I know how you feel then." Lapis said with a chuckle. Giving Connie the chance to smile a little bit. "But Nora..." Connie began, but stopped when she heard her phone buzzing, but didn't answer it, she just immediately placed both her hands over her ears and waited for the buzzing to stop.

"Woah, girl. It's just a phonecall. Nothing to be scared over." Rogue said with reassurance. "No...it's Steven, probably texting me again. Oh man..." Connie said in realisation, trying to calm down a little. "Wait...you said you haven't been texting him back at all, right?" Rogue asked in absolute shock. "Y-Yes..." Connie admitted sadly. "Why didn't you text him back?" Rogue asked in concern.

"I think Steven hates me now...that's why I'm too scared to text. I was too afraid to check them in case he said something awful, or talk to him in case we got into an either bigger argument." Connie admitted, confessing why she never really texted Steven back at all. "Connie...why not see what he sent you? I don't think it's bad at all." Lapis said encouragingly, realising that both she and Steven were worried about losing each other but never knowing the truth.

"I'm too scared to." Connie insisted fearfully, trying to back out of looking at the texts. "Girl please...for me?" Rogue said, pleading with all her heart. In the end, Connie gave up and got out her phone to open the messages from Steven. She closed her eyes, scared about what Steven had been texting her about. She thought it was him saying horrible things about her such as: _Was Stevonnie more important to you?!_ or _Nora doesn't deserve a friend like you!_ She then opened one eye to expect the worst...only to find that none of the texts were horrible ones like the thought. In fact, they were nothing like what she thought.

_**When I saw the texts...my worries were reassured. Steven had only wanted to know if I was alright. Nothing harsh whatsoever.**_

_'Hey Connie. Hope you're doing well. It's been crazy in Beach City.'_

_'If you want to call or text me back I can tell you about it.'_

_'Good news: Dewey won the election after we exposed Ian Galaxy as a fraud, mainly because of the Hive Mind. Phew._

_'Now I heard that Zach has a chance of getting back into school with the mayor's help. Fancy that?'_

Those first batch of texts were only the first of many texts to come, much to her surprise, she was glad to know about Steven helping the mayor with his problems. If she was still around Steven, and still mad at him, she'd probably blurt out something like: _You can't solve everyone's problems!_ But after what she experienced in her dreams, she was glad that the young boy had helped out the Mayor. She then continued to look at the texts and found that they were beginning to give off a sense that the young boy wanted to talk to her.

_'Hey, Connie. How are you today?'_

_'Hope everything's going ok.'_

_'It'd be cool if you told me it was ok...I guess I miss you.'_

_'I know yesterday I said, 'I guess,' but I mean, I do miss you...'_

Connie felt a hint of guilt rising, feeling like a coward for not texting him back, but it all went away when she read the next text.

_'Hope you didn't get your phone mixed up with a tennis ball. Ha ha.'_

That recent text made Connie giggle a little, sure it was a bad joke, but at least it cheered her up slightly. "Steven...that's so bad." She said to herself. "See? What'd I tell you? He just wanted to check up on you." Lapis said with a smile, snorting a little. "Yeah...now I get it." Connie admitted with a smile. However, when Connie looked at the most recent test, her heart felt like it broke into a million pieces, it even made the young girl tear up.

_'If you don't want to talk...I understand. If I'm bothering you, I'll stop with that. And if you don't ever want to see me again...then you don't have to keep it silent.'_

"S-Steven...its not true..." Connie sadly gasped to herself, choking up on her own tears. Steven thought that she didn't want to see him anymore when in truth, she did. Oh, she wanted to text him to say that it wasn't true...but she couldn't find the courage to do so. "Oh no...he think I hate him, what have I done?!" Connie yelped sadly. "Connie, look at me." Lapis said, getting the young girl to look at Lapis.

"You'll always be a part of Steven's life. I know it because I've never seen you two apart from each other for so long. He cares about you to Homeworld and back. He risked his life to keep you safe, he went through a meltdown when we went to rescue you in the human zoo." Lapis explained with a chuckle. "Right...b-but Nora-" Connie started towards Lapis. "Nora would agree with him. She knows how much you try to keep promises but can't." Rogue interrupted with reassurance. Rogue made a good point, because in the past when Connie promised something to Nora, she tried to keep it, and while most of the times she couldn't, there were times where she could.

"Plus...I texted him to say that you didn't hate him." Rogue said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "W-WHAT?! ROGUE, WHY WOULD YOU-!" Connie began in shock before being calmed down by Lapis. "Chilax girl, he doesn't have my number, so he doesn't know me." Rogue continued with reassurance. "Oh...good point." Connie said in relief. "And if I'm being serious...I know the reason why you don't want to upset him." Rogue said, making Connie think that she knew the reason. "Y-You do? W-What reason?" Connie asked in confusion and understandment. "You love him." Hearing this from Rogue made Connie blush furiously.

"Are...you...serious right now?!" Connie asked in embarrassment, yes she had similar feelings for Steven, but that was not it. "I mean...that's how I felt with Zach, and if you regret hurting him so much, it shows that you must love hi-" Rogue said from what she knew, but stopping when Connie gave her a death glare. "Oh...nevermind." Rogue responded sheepishly.

"Anyway...there is no way Steven hates you. Actually...when you get the chance, talk to him. Anyway, I've gotta go." Lapis said, giving Connie encouragement before preparing to leave. "Leave? Wait Lapis...where are you going?" Connie asked in worry as Lapis turned towards her. "I'm going to find the barn and give it back to Peridot, then I'm gonna leave before the Diamonds show up. So...bye." Lapis said, explaining what she planned to do before flying off.

The two girls were left their in silence before looking at each other. "So...she wasn't from Earth?" Rogue asked in confusion. "Nope." Connie responded with a chuckle. "She a friend of yours?" Rogue asked out of curiousity. "Yep." Connie spoke once again. "So...are things gonna calm down now?" Rogue then asked, hoping that Connie had calmed down after yesterday. Connie had thoughts about running away, but after witnessing the world without her...she decided to stay. "Yeah...in fact...let's make everything right together, like old times." Connie said with confidence as Rogue then nodded.

* * *

**_Soon after that..._**

**_Things started to brighten up in the coming weeks_**

* * *

**_I told Nora's other friends that Nora was ok and that she missed them all_**

Connie gather a few of Nora's classmates around and talked to them. "Nora's fine. She said to tell you that and she also says that she misses you all." She said, getting a lot of her classmates to get cheered up again. "If we make a card for Nora, I'm sure she'll be glad to know that you're asking for her." The young girl then said. Soon enough, everyone made a card for Nora, saying how they missed her and that they wished she was still with them.

* * *

**_Rogue and I began hanging out a lot more often after all that time we spent apart since our childhood._**

Rogue brought Connie to an arcade near Ocean City and together they both had fun. They also went to the woods and spent an entire day by the lake, swimming and having fun there until the sunset.

* * *

**_I spoke to Lion and admitted I was wrong_**

Connie approached Lion, who didn't look in any way pleased to see her after what she had done to Steven. "Hey Lion, it's...been a while." She said, nervously laughing, but not amusing Lion. Connie then sighed before speaking up once more. "I know what I did to Steven was awful...and I hurt him...but I didn't mean to do it. Look...I'm sorry...about everything. I was wrong to blame him and...well, I think that's everything..." She said, admitting that she was wrong while a few tears appeared in her eyes.

Hearing this from Connie, Lion's expression suddenly changed, like he finally knew that Connie realised what she did. He procesded to hug her, and she was glad that he was good with her again. "Heh...I knew you couldn't stay mad at me for long." She said happily as Lion gave off a huff.

* * *

**_I got advice from my parents on how I could make things right with Steven._**

Connie confronted her parents one night about how to make up with Steven and what to do with him afterwards. "Look...I really need to talk to him, but not just yet so...could you tell me what the best way of making up with him would be?" She asked, allowing her parents to look at each other before doug suggested something. "Maybe when you make up with him, ask him out somewhere? Like on a date." He explained, making Connie blush in the process. "Doug!" Priyanka said in annoyance, hitting her husband on the shoulder.

"What? Connie's growing up and we don't have to move anywhere anymore. So you'll have to stop this sooner or later." Doug pointed out, rubbing his arm before turning back to his daughter. "Well...maybe ask Steven that as soon as you make up with him. But...I'd suggest approach him gently and just apologise to him. If you ever get a chance to, take it." He said in annoyance, and he was right about it, provided that he was being appropriate.

* * *

**_I decided to _****_check up on how the other gems were doing, I also decided to send Garnet a little present_**

After finding a pack of orphan kittens alongside Rogue, Connie decided to adopt one and sent another one to Garnet, a calico kitten, with a blue eye and a scarred closed eye. Garnet loved the little kitten and decided to call her Cat Steven, which was confusing because I thought she'd call her Sapphire because of her one eye. Steven happened to be home at the time, and Connie was thankful that Garnet didn't tell him the cat was from her or the fact that he had just missed her.

* * *

**_And the best thing that I ever did in my life...was cutting my own hair._**

At her home, Connie took out Rose's sword, much to Rogue's awe as she was told to step back, and used the gem weapon to slice through her own hair. It fell to the ground and Connie sighed in absolute relief, feeling like she was cutting strings that her cowardice was controlling. Her hair was now a chin-length bob style with bangs, and it felt absolutely perfect. "Woah...now that's a neat way to change girl. Want me to brush it?" Rogue said in amazement, getting out a brush from her bag. "Heheh, alright. But can you be gentle with it please." Connie requested, wanting her friend to be gentle.

Rogue nodded her head and had Connie sit down. "Now don't you worry girl...you're in good hands, in fact, your new appearence is gonna melt Steven's heart." Rogue said sweetly as she began brushing her friend's hair.

**_However...there was still one last thing that I needed to do..._**

While Connie was happy that things were finally starting to settle down, with everything going her way and along with her new hairstyle...her heart just still didn't feel the same. Hearing Steven's name, Connie looked at a photo of herself and Steven on her phone and sighed sadly. "What am I going to do?" She said, still trying to figure out the right moment to talk with Steven.

* * *

Present Day

Friday Afternoon

**_So here we are...up to the present day. _**

It had been a few weeks since the argument. Rogue and Connie were walking home together and were near Rogue's aunt's place. Connie had finished her essay, as it turned out it had been one about the changes and growing up in life, and boy did she pass it with flying colours, much to Jessica's annoyance when she met with her outside of school. "Ha, did you see the look on her face when you passed?! She was acting like a baby." Rogue said, laughing at Jessica's tantrum. "Yeah...and not to mention the changes that I was going through were very accurate." Connie said with amazement.

"So...did you have any chance to-" Rogue didn't get to finish her sentence before a yellow customized Himitsu X-12 zoomed past them, interrupting their conversation. "Hey, watch where you're driving jerk!" Rogue then yelled in annoyance before the car stopped and parked up on the curb. The driver then rolled down the window, revealing to be none other than someone who Connie and Steven hated: Kevin Galaxy.

**_Ugh, of all the days...why'd Kevin have to ruin it?_**

"Hey cuties. You doing anything Saturday night?" Kevin asked with a smirk, not impressing the two girls in the slightest. "Kevin...why don't you take a long walk off a short pier?" Connie groaned in annoyance as she and Rogue began walking away. Kevin then got out of his car and rushed up to the two girls after a few moments. "Come on girls, just hear me out." Kevin pleaded before Rogue turned around. "She's not interested. Get lost sicko." Rogue said in disgust.

"Look...I'm gonna be throwing a party at my parent's place. I've invited all the coolest teens in Delmarva, all but one." Kevin said, confusing the two girls in the process. "Uh...who are you talking about?" Rogue asked in confusion. "I'm talking about the one who's cooler than me, one who's a better dancer, a better driver, and doesn't care what anyone else thinks, I'm talking about Stevonnie." Kevin said, hoping to get his wish...only for Connie to get even more disgusted. "Are you act-Well I'm sorry to disappoint you...but Stevonnie's a no-show. Neither of us are coming!" Connie then said, snapping harshly at Kevin in the process. "Fine...then that porkchop's gonna be sad and all alone at the party." Kevin groaned falsely as he walked back to his car.

**_This was my chance to finally talk to Steven, to see him and actually apologise for insulting him._**

Hearing this, Connie was immediately drawn back to Kevin. "W-Wait! Steven's going?" She asked in surprise. "Of course he is. He may be chubby, but I let him in, much to his pleading anyway." Kevin said, hiding a smirk from Connie in the process. "But he hates you. Why would he-?" Connie started, but decided that she didn't care about that. All she cared about was seeing Steven again, and wanting to talk to him so badly as she ran up to Kevin. "Alright, I'll come. Can you promise that he'll be there?" She asked, pleading to go.

"Eh...I wasn't gonna let you in...but since that kid is, I'll make an exception. So I promise he'll be there." Kevin said before allowing Connie to enter her number into his phone before he got it back. "Connie? Eugh. What is your full name like Constance Maheswaran?" Kevin asked in disgust upon seeing her name. "It's actually, Connie. Just plain, Connie. Not Constance, just Connie. Got it?" Connie groaned in annoyance. Kevin raised his eyebrow in annoyance before he shrugged and got back into his car. "See you at the party tomorrow night, _Constance._" Kevin said as he drove away. "_Connie_...jerk." Connie growled in frustration before realising that the party was tomorrow and Steven was going.

**_But...I figured that I wasn't ready for it._**

"Oh my gosh! Steven's going to the party, and I'm not ready! What if he gets mad or never forgives me for-" Connie said, freaking out about the party, only to be cut off by Rogue. "Girl, chillax. I'll help you out. Now come on, we gotta get you ready." Rogue said with reassurance before leading her friend to the nearest fashion store. "Um...ready for what Rogue?" Connie asked sheepishly. "For the ball tomorrow night Cinderella." Rogue said with a smirk.

* * *

Over nearby clothes store

Rogue helped Connie to prepare for Saturday's party, she did this by first picking out a few outfits for her friend, four of them didn't suit her, but one of them, which was a cyan blue short-sleeved shirt that came with a knee length skirt with a high waisted belt and a pair of brown boots, was perfect. "Girl, now that's an amazing outfit." Rogue complemented with approval. "Thanks, I think it really suits me too." Connie admitted, making a good point. After paying for her clothes and going outside, they then went over to Rogue's place and looked at the sunset. All the while, the young girl sighed in satisfaction as she closed her eyes. "I'll see you at the party Steven...just one more day alone won't hurt us." She said to herself, finally ready to talk to Steven after five weeks.

**_Heh, one more day indeed._**

The young girl felt like things were finally looking bright for her once again, however...she failed to spot Reya, staring at her from a distance with a smile, happy that she got to help her and earn her wings. "Heh, looks like she realised it after all. You were right Miss Paragon." She said gratefully, staring at Purity Diamond, who was also smiling about this. "I never doubted it for a second." Purity said with a warm smile. "Now go on, you're free to go." Hearing this, Reya accended towards the clouds, finally returning to where she came from.

* * *

Meanwhile, Connie and Rogue were being watched by an Audi RSQ e-tron, or rather...the driver, who had overhead the two girls talking about how Connie was going to Speak to Steven tomorrow night at Kevin Galaxy's place. "_Sterling...report._" A voice said on the radio, getting the driver to answer through the radio. "Miss Maheswaran is meeting up with our target tomorrow night at the Galaxy Residence. This might be a problem, so should I engage?" The driver said, requesting to engage in taking down Ian Galaxy.

"_Negative. I can't risk blowing our cover. For now, I need you to retrieve the files in the residence. Then we need to confront Mr Universe himself._" The voice spoke, giving his orders to the driver. "Understood. Travis, Mike, Terra, meet me at the rendezvous point. We need to plan our strategy." The driver said, calling out towards three other agents as he drove off. "Roger dodger, Lance." One agent spoke with an excited tone. "Copy that, Lance." Another agent said with a firm tone. "Understood, Lance." A third agent said with an confident attitude.

* * *

**(1) I chose Shophia Lilis as Rogue's voice, mainly because is actually a fan of Steven Universe.**

**(2) DarkStar, a dark counterpart of Steven Universe from and Alternate Universe. (Check it out on Deviantart for more information)**

**A****nd here's a lesson to everyone: Sometimes the world gets you down, and you might feel like everyone would be better off without you, but it's often never true because we make a good impact on others' lives.**

**Also, a funny fact: I originally planned to make this story like the Wizard of Oz, but I couldn't figure out how.**

**Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter and I'll update soon **

**Negaboss2000 out **


	5. Back to the Kindergarten

**You guys ready for the next chapter?**

**If so, then enjoy **

**There's a bit of a change to what REALLY happened to the Kindergarten in this AU****.**

* * *

**Back to the Kindergarten**

In the early hours of the morning at Steven's home...

The young boy's Cookie Cat alarm clock went off at 8:00 am, getting him to turn it off. Steven then got out of bed and began to get ready for the day, via his morning routine. He got his towel from the coat hanger and went into the kitchen. He turned on the sink in the kitchen to brush his teeth, wash his face and cleen his ears. Then he dunked his head into the sink when it was full of water, to was his head further of course. It was then that Amethyst and Citrine emerged from her temple room with Pumpkin coming to greet her.

"Oooh, hey there, girl." Amethyst said as she petted Pumpkin. "Who eez a good girl? Oh oui you are!" Citrine said with delight as she glowed a bright yellow aura. Bismuth then came into the house along with Imperia and Purity, still feeling a little annoyed about her continuous failures on building the Star Slicer. "I'm tellin' you, the metal on Earth isn't strong enough, we'll need something that can absorb the attack of the diamonds." Bismuth pouted still a little annoyed about making a game changer towards Black Diamond. "Patience Bismuth...I'm sure something will turn up." Purity said with reassurance.

It was then that the the five gens turned their attention towards Steven. "Yo Steven! Is this a bad time?" Amethyst asked as Steven wrapped the towel around his head. "Out of the three things I have to do in the sink now, this is the one I least mind you guys seeing." He said awkwardly.

Purity immediately caught onto this and went over to Steven. "I take it Peridot hasn't gotten better in your lavatory yet?" She asked with concern. "Yeah. She still hasn't gotten over Lapis running away and Starby leaving and taking the Barn and her Foot Cruiser with her into space. I know she blames herself for driving Lapis away...but it wasn't her fault. I think that she just needs a little more time to herself." Steven explained from what he figured from Peridot's POV.

"It's a shame...but I hope Lapis can come to her senses soon." Bismuth said sadly. "Oh she will...though it may take some time." Purity said, using her future vision to see that possibility. "Well what about Topaz? Can she help her?" Imperia asked in confusion. "She's...sort of busy with Zach at the moment." Steven said sheepishly, rubbing his head. "Nope! That's it, we're getting her out." Amethyst said in annoyance as she walked towards the bathroom. "Agreed!" Citrine said as she followed her sister. "Wait! Amethyst, Citrine!" Steven said in a panic. "This isn't going to go well...is it?" Bismuth asked Purity with worry, only to be responded with her shrugging.

* * *

In the Bathroom

Amethyst and Steven open the door to see if Peridot was there. "Uh...Peridot?" Steven asked as he peered into the bathroom. "Are you ok in here?" Imperia then asked nervously. They saw Peridot's tablet playing somber country music and the little green gem herself hanging from the edge of the bathtub onto the floor with her two arms shapeshifted a little. There were also puddles of water everywhere Topaz was also there with Zach, playing a game of chess as this happened. It was Saturday, so Zach didn't have any shifts, and he thought that he could pass the time with showing Topaz how to play chess.

Topaz was about to win her second game of chess, but felt like her white knights were about to get taken, despite this, she had just taken Zach's sixth pawn. "Check." She said, stating that she was about to take the king. "Why do you insist on winning with knights?" Zach asked with a chuckle. "I find them pretty unique of a piece." Topaz said with a little bit of a blush.

The duo were then interrupted by Steven and the others peering through the door. "Oh...morning Steven." Zach said sheepishly as Topaz waved. "M-Morning...? What are you up to?" Steven asked awkwardly. "Playing this really cool Earth thing called Chess. I've beaten Zach about two times at it, and I might be able to win a 3rd time." Topaz said in excitement. "I thought her myself." Zach said with a hint of pride. "Oh...but I thought you only played videogames Zach." Steven said in confusion. "Well someone's gotta have a board game hobby too." Zach pointed out with a snicker.

Steven shrugged in confusion before he walked into the bathroom along with Amethyst and Citrine. "Um...anyway, Peridot...are you...feeling any better?" He asked awkwardly, only to be responded with a grumble from the litle green gem. Amethyst proceeded to pause the music playing from her tablet. "So...Uhh what have you...been up to?" Steven then asked as he fumbled around with his fingers. Again, Peridot mumbled onto the floor. "Uh, do you mind speaking english Peri? None of us could hear you down there." Bismuth said as she and Amethyst proceeded to lift Peridot's feet out of the bathtub.

However, upon seeing her face, the other gems saw that Peridot was looking absolutely haggard. "Nothing..." The green gem managed to say in a sad tone. "You've been in this bathroom for kind of a long time? Maybe you should get some fresh air." Steven suggested encouraginly. "She's right you know Peri. You've kind of lost your touch since you moved in here a week ago." Topaz pointed out in agreement after finishing her third game of chess.

"What's the point...?" Peridot asked in a worn out voice. "To help you feel better. That usually helps for humans as well." Purity said, appearing in between Steven and Amethyst. The duo were scared along with Citrine, but Peridot was merely annoyed. "Come on, Peridot! I can't stand seeing you like this!" Amethyst groaned in annoyance. "Yeah, neither can I!" Bismuth groaned in the same amount of annoyance as Amethyst.

"Like what...?" Peridot groaned, still worn out. "Dude, let's just get out of the house." Amethyst said firmly. "All hands for going out, raise your hands." Bismuth said to everyone in the bathroom, and to her expectance, most of the gems, apart from Peridot, agreed. "Ok...so what are we going to do? We could explore Rose's landfill to see if there are any useful metals we can find." Bismuth suggested, though the thought was really more for her than Peridot.

"Or...We could go check out my old Kindergarten. We met all those other Amethysts up in space, and they all came out of the same rock as me." Amethyst suggested. "Ai would've likéd to see la Delta Kindairgarten whaire all ze citrines camé from, but ai would prefair to see le prime kindairgarten mostly." Cirine responded in agreement.

"Yeah...I've been meaning to get a look at the old neighborhood now that I've met the neighbors." Amethyst said, explaining "That sounds fun." Steven said with a sudden smile. "I actually agree there. So whaddya say, Peridot?" Bismuth said in approval, looking down at the little green gem. "You can make us feel dumb by telling us all the stuff we don't know!" Amethyst said, giving Peridot something fun to do if she came. "Wait...she actually did that to you?" Zach asked in shock. "Y-Yeah...it's a long story Zach." Steven then said sheepishly.

"It's true...and I miss doing that..." Peridot admitted sadly. "Great, it's settled! Let's get out of the bathroom." Amethyst said in triumph as she hoisted Peridot over her own shoulder and began to walk out. "Can I bring my music...?" Peridot requested. "No." Amethyst responded in denial as everyone else, including Topaz after shapeshifting, left the bathroom. "Man...this'll have to be one real trip to get Peri back into shape." Bismuth muttered as she left the house.

* * *

On a train carriage

Steven and the gang had managed to catch a train towards the Prime Kindergarten. Bismuth also brought along Mali Garnet and Carnelian along so they could enjoy the sight of the fields. Peridot however, laid down in a fetal position inside of the car.

"Well...this is quite nice." Topaz said with a smile. "Yeah...I never knew you actually rode in a train car along the countryside. I'd usually ride in the back of a truck without anyone knowing, but never this." Zach said with an impressed tone. "It's actually been a while since we've rode the train like this." Steven pointed out.

The young boy was about to explain the first time he took the train until he was cut off by a groan. "Ugh. Not to sour the mood, but why exactly are we taking this outdated, clackity ship there? The Prime Kindergarten has a very convenient Warp Pad." Peridot asked through a groan.

"Ehh, we're taking the scenic route." Amethyst said, looking back at Peridot with a smirk. "Yeah...I need a break from all my building once in a while, and I also look at the growing life on the planet. Man...it's beautiful just like Rose said." Bismuth added with satisfaction. "Why not take a look at the beautiful countryside, Peridot? You'd be surprised by it." Purity said with a hint of encouragement.

"No. Your efforts to entrance me with Earth's beauty, as a Diamond, are pointless. My sector of countryside was absolutely perfect. Now it's somewhere in space along with my precious foot cruiser. Just let me know when we get there." Peridot said miserably, not even bothering to turn. This in turn, concerned Steven and Bismuth.

Zach also checked the Hive Mind and discovered that it was glowing blue, stating Peridot was sad, as obvious as it seemed. "Hmm...are you sure that we're gonna be able to make her feel better bro?" He asked Steven, only to be met with the young boy shrugging in concern and confusion.

* * *

At the Prime Kindergarten.

The group had arrived at the Prime Kindergarten, still looking abandoned and lifeless as per usual. "Good ol' Kindergarten! Just the way I left it! Aww, some things never change. Gah- Actually, everything's different now! Man, I-I used to think this place was full of empty holes, but now it's like, it's empty with holes which were once full!" Amethyst said, looking upon the holes of the Amethysts which they emerged from.

"Oh dear...it's still like this?" Purity asked in concern, trying to use some form of plant manipulation on the ground, but found that it didn't work. "Y-Yeah...how do you know it was like this?" Steven said before asking Purity. The Omni Diamond looked away in concern. "It's...a long story." Purity said to herself. "All those Amethysts I met in space, they were all here! While I was right there in the ground. But now, I can finally start putting some faces to holes!" Amethyst went on, looking at her own exit hole before jumping up to one of the other exit hole. "This must've been 8XJ!" She then said before jumping to another exit hole. "8XK!" Amethyst said before jumping to a third exit hole. "8XL!" She finished.

"Looks about right to me." Bismuth said in agreement. "How can Amethyst even tell that anyway?" Zach asked in confusion. "Actually, she can't. The order goes from top to bottom." Peridot then said, speaking up for the group and gaining their attention. "Zo... Does zat means..." Citrine began, but trailed off. "Yes Citrine, _that's_ 8XJ." Peridot said in correction. "Wait, you can definately tell that?" Topaz asked in amazement. "Yes. Remember the Amethyst with the curly hair?" Peridot then said. "Barely...wait, how do you know that hole was her's?" Impreia said as she turned to Peridot. "Not only that, but you can also tell from the iron deposits in the formation there. And that's 8XL down below." Peridot responded, pointing where 8XL's hole was and allowing Amethyst to hop down to it and inspect it.

"Woah...that's pretty amazing, Dot." Amethyst complemented. "Ai agree. You reahl-lee do know yur stuff pairi." Citrine added. All of the complements caused Peridot to blush and even smile a little...however it didn't last long asnd she came back to her gloomy realization. "This used to make sense to me. I thought life was generated in a Kindergarten. Formless, aimless energy channeled into new, useful Gems. But life doesn't start in a Kindergarten. It ends here." Peridot said, looking at the horrible damage that had been done to the kindergarten along with the others.

"I've gotten used to plants everywhere. Bugs and breeze and sunshine... All of that has been sucked out of this place. It's with the Amethysts that were produced here, and now, this place is nothing but a miserable husk. And all of the Amethysts are gone." Peridot said, comparing life towards the kindergarten. "Hey!" Amethyst pouted towards Peridot's remark. "That's mon seestair you're talkeng abut, Pairi." Citrine grumbled in annoyance. "Oh, all of the well-made Amethysts are gone." Peridot then said, making the remark a little worse. "That's still insulting to Amethyst." Bismuth said in annoyance as Amethyst nodded in agreement.

"Well nothing will ever grow here again, because of the gems who did this." Peridot grumbled bitterly as she passed a planet. It was then that Purity appeared in front of her, making her jump a bit. "On the contrary Peridot, there is a reason as to why life hasn't returned to the Prime kindergarten." Purity said in a serious tone. "W-What do you mean Purity?" Steven asked in confusion as he turned towards his mentor and walked over to her.

"It is true, that there was once life, blooming within the Kindergarten. And it was sucked out by the injectors, but what really ruined it...was the Genesis Orb." Purity explained, revealling something which was actually responsible for what happened to the Kindergarten. "The...the what?" Topaz asked in confusion.

"The Genesis Orb...it's one of the many Relic's I've created, alongside the Prisms of Light and the healing orcarina." Purity said shamefully, saying the relic's name once more. "Wait...the thing _you_ created, caused all of _this_?" Amethyst askedin shock. "I didn't see that coming..." Carnelian said sheepishly. "Why didn't you tell us? We could've stopped this." Bismuth asked in shock. "I've told you everything I've created as a powerful Diamond, but I don't tell you all of them. That orb is something which I've tried really hard to forget..." Purity explained, telling why she didn't want to explain about the Genesis Orb.

"W-Why would you create such a thing?!" "Yeah! A-and what can it do?" Steven and Peridot asked in worry, one after the other. It was obvious that Peridot never heard of the Genesis Orb before and she was both curious and worried. "The relic was not for me, it was for the Diamonds. And this was back before the rebellion. As for Peridot's question, The Genesis Orb is capable of draining both the life force and energy on a planetary scale. Whilst it's primarily used for Kindergartens like this, the orb is stores all the energy within it, where it can power a gem, or a Diamond, for all eternity." Purity explained, horrifying everyone.

"Then that means..." Topaz began in horror, only for the Omni-Diamond to finish. "Yes...draining planetary life and energy from the planets, rendering them dead. It's cruel using the orb, because while the user thrives...life on the planets, don't...nothing survives the orb when they're dried of life." Purity said, sounding morbid and ashamed. "You mean like this little tiny plant here?" Mali asked in confusion, pointing to a flower that Peridot had passed. "Why yes, Mali Garnet, why ever did you bring that up?" Purity asked before realising what Mali had said.

In fact, everyone realised what Mali had just said and looked to where she was pointing and noticed that there was a five petaled flower. "Wait!" "Oh mon di!" Amethyst and Citrine yelped in shock as the two sisters looked went to observe the flower. "Oh! I've never seen anything growing here, and I've been hanging around this joint for 5,000 years." Amethyst said in surprise. "Woah...now that's somethin'. And look at that. It's even looking healthy too!" Bismuth said in amazement as she the others looked at the plant, oblivious to Purity's sad sigh.

"Wow! That's Earth for you: Always bouncing back." Steven said with optimism. "I don't know. I'd have to run some tests to see if this is not an anomaly." Peridot said, thinking about running some tests on the plant. "You want to try planting stuff here?" Steven suggested with a smile. "Yeah, you do know how to farm after all, from what I've heard." Zach said with approval, feeling like he had nothing better to do. "Yeah, that could be fun!" Amethyst said with excitement along with Citrine's nod. "We'd also need Variscite to coordinate where to plant as well." Bismuth said, figuring Variscite could also help out.

"It could be an interesting experiment." Peridot said in agreement whilst feeling a little insecure. "Yeah! Let's re-garden the Kindergarten!" Steven yelled with excitement. "Heh, Nora would've been pretty optimistic too." Zach said in agreement as he looked at Topaz, who nodded with approval. Purity however...didn't seem to be with the idea, but allowed the gems to do what they were planning to do.

* * *

Later...

Steven and the others warped back to the kindergarten with a lot of gardening tools. Everyone seemed to be optimistic about replanting the place, all except for Peridot, who was a little down, and Purity, who seemed to think otherwise about the plan. Steven, Bismuth, Citrine and Amethyst began by removing the rocks to make way for the tractor, and Topaz had to move a gigantic boulder before she threw it away, making the quadret look like rookies.

Peridot then proceeded to use the tractor to plow and cultivate the soil. All the while, Amethyst was rolling on a boulder whilst Steven and Bismuth carried a bunch of them. Topaz even showed off by balancing two boulders on her head, she nearly crushed Peridot and Zach if Steven hadn't have summoned his shield in time. Topaz was given a bit of a cold shoulder whilst she sheepishly rubbed her head. The gang then dug holes within the soil and Variscite showed where to dig them. Peridot then tried to lift a trowel to dig the holes for her, but she accidently shoved the soil in Amethyst's face. She laughed at it before earing a face full of soil.

Amethyst then shapeshifted into a wheel-barrel where she allowed Peridot to pour the soil into her. Sunflowers were then planted into the holes that were. Steven and Amethyst were preparing to water the fowers with water guns, along with Topaz and Bismuth, but Peridot immediately stopped them, suggesting that they should sprinkle the water from above.

So Amethyst Shapeshifted into a helicopter and took to the skies and sprinkled the water. Even Zach helped out Steven with his side of sprinkling. And everything was finished...the garden was officially planted, and lastly, Amethyst placed a plastic flamingo next to the field as the gang celebrated what they did. All the while, Purity saw all this in the meanwhile, not giving the effort to help as she had a sad expression upon her face. "If only it were possible..." She said to herself.

* * *

The next day at Steven's home...

Steven woke up to the sound of his Cookie Cat alarm clock and got ready for the day. After grabbing his towel off the coat hanger, the young boy went into the bathroom where he could finally take a hot shower after all this time.

After finishing the shower, Steven walked out and saw Peridot speaking to Purity, Bismuth, Topaz and Amethyst in the kitchen. "The plants don't need any more water after yesterday, but according to several tutorials I read online, the roots should be starting to take hold." Peridot said with confidence. "Oh yeah?" Amethyst then asked with a proud attitude.

"Indeed Amethyst. That is usually what would happen with plants when humans plant them into the ground." Purity said with a simple smile. "Wow...no wonder you Crystal Gems wanted to protect life, it all grows so fast." Topaz said with amazement. "So, that's something that we can check up on today as soon as-" Peridot began once more, only to stop as she saw Steven. "Steven! What are you doing in that bathing gown?! Get dressed already." The green gem ordered instantly.

"Hey cool it...you're not his mother." Bismuth immediately said with a chuckle. "Anyway...we're heading back to see if the sunflowers had grown overnight." Topaz explained to Steven. "Oh yeah, I've been wondering how they're doing." Steven said as he immediately went to get dressed. "Hmm...but don't get your hopes up..." Purity said to herself, attracting the attention of Peridot. "What's that supposed to mean?" Peridot asked in confusion.

It was then that the gang noticed Zach and Garnet walking into the room while holding what seemed to be a coloured calico kitten with a blue sapphire eye and a scared eye. "Are you sure you want to? 'Cause my parents don't mind taking care of her." The 15 year old asked with concern. "Don't worry, I can take care of her just fine." Garnet said, using her future vision to reassure Zach.

"Hey Garnet, where'd you get the little tiger?" Topaz asked with curiosity, getting a closer look at the little kitten. "Her name is Cat Steven, she was...left here at the front door early this morning." Garnet explained, showing the little kitten to the yellow giant who seemed to adore her. "Aw...isn't she so cute?" Topaz asked with awe.

Zach then looked at the front window to see Connie looking through the window at Steven with a glad but also sad expression. She then noticed Zach looking at her and tried to tell him not to give away her location. "Anyway, we're off to the kindergarten again. Hey Zach, are you coming?" Steven then said before noticing Zach's distracted expression. "Er...Zach? Are you ok there? What are you looking at?" The young boy then asked before he looked towards the window to see...nobody there.

Connie had hidden from view, making Steven think that Zach was looking somewhere else. "Oh, the Sunrise is pretty nice, isn't it?" "Uh, y-yeah. I've only seen it on rare occasions, but never like this." Zach said, making up an excuse to hide where Connie was hiding. "Anyways...I'm heading over to my cousin's place, there's something that I needed to help him out with." Zach then said.

"Oh...it's a shame, well we've gotta go anyway because I promised Imperia, Mali and Citrine that we'd meet them at the train stop. see you after then." Steven said as he left the house with Peridot, Bismuth, Purity and Amethyst. "See you after guys." Zach said as he watched them leave. It wasn't long before Connie snuck into the house to meet Garnet and Zach.

"Sorry about that...I just didn't want Steven to see me, at least just yet." Connie said sheepishly as she sat on the couch where Zach was. "Not a problem. So what did you want to talk about?" Garnet then asked as she looked at Connie with a concerned expression.

* * *

Aboard a train...

Steven and the gang were once again riding to the kindergarten to enjoy the scenic route, discussing about the plants within the barren land. The young boy then turned towards Impreia and Citrine. "Sorry I haven't been together for a while you guys." He said sheepishly. "Eh, it's fine. I've been getting along with Sphalerite and Variscite very well. I mean, it's hillarious when one of them disagrees with the other...mainly Variscite." Imperia mentioned, stating that she enjoyed the company of Variscite and Sphalerite.

"Yeah. Those two are funny. Anyway, I'm glad we're together again just like when we explored the Beta Kindergarten." Steven said with a cheerful smile before it turned to a frown. "But the only sad thing is...we're short one member." Steven said sadly, remembering being Nephrite before she was corrupted once more. "Oh...Nephrite. Zat poair gem." Citrine said sadly. "I still can't believe we lost her...after everything I've done to help her." Steven said sadly. "Yeah...I hope we can save her again sometime soon." Imperia said, remembering the day when she kidnapped Nephrite and tried to get her to Black Nephrite...only to change her mind so suddenly after being inspired by Steven's will to never give up.

"Still...she wouldn't want us to give up either. So with that said, do you think the plants grew much overnight?" The young boy asked with curiosity. "Yeah, I bet the place looks even better!" Amethyst said with high hopes. "Ai agree." Citrine said with a nod, placing her arm around her sister. "So...where'd you rocks think another good place to plant stuff would be? And what should we do next?" Bismuth asked with smile. "What about, _hydrangeas_?" Amethyst suggested, confusing the other gems. "Um...which plant is that?" Topaz asked in confusion. "Hydrangeas are known to grow in easten Asia, they are flowers which grow with shrubs." Purity explained calmly.

"Well I dunno, but they sound good, right?" Amethyst said in excitement along with Citrine's constant nodding. "So, what do you think, Peridot?" Steven then said to Peridot, looking over to the green gem who seemed a bit quiet. "Hey...Thanks for doing this with me." Peridot said gratefully.

"Hey, it's been a pleasure doin' _bismuth_ with ya." Bismuth said, stroking Peridot's hair. "What? Haha, come on." Amethyst said with a laugh. "Eet eez notheng too big to get excited ovair." Citrine added with a giggle. "It was fun." Steven stated with a smile. "I'm just glad I was able to fix something." Peridot then said with a smile. "And I'm glad I grew fond of this planet and helped to defend it." Topaz added with a blush. "Yeah, the Kindergarten looks better than ever now!" Amethyst then said with excitement.

"I wouldn't count on it..." Purity then said, gaining everyone's attention. "Oh come on Purity, don't be negative like this." Bismuth said with a chuckle. "Y-Yeah, at least we tried to do something for the Kindergarten." Topaz pointed out, feeling a little nervous as well. "All I'm saying is that nothing is what you're going to expect when we arrive." Purity spoke once more, facing the gang with a serious expression. "Aw come on sourpuss, how bad could it be?" Peridot said with a snort, waving off what the Omni-Diamond was saying.

* * *

But over at the Kindergarten...

The whole gang looked upon the sunflowers, once looking bright and now...looking very dead within the lifeless land. Everyone of them, apart from Purity, were shocked to see that all of their efforts to bring life back to the kindergarten, failed, despite it working only for a day. Peridot and Topaz walked over to the dead flowers where Peridot proceeded to pick on up, to Topaz's fright, the sunflower disintegrated in the little green gem's hands.

"Well...I don't know why I'm surprised...I should've known not to have hope." Peridot said, looking down at the ground sadly. "It didn't even matter anyway..." Topaz said, really feeling lost for words. "I tried to warn you...without the planetary energy returned to it's rightful place, life cannot grow here, regardless of what we try. Apologies if I'm not helping..." Purity said solemnly.

"N-No...it's fine..." Peridot then, insisting that she was fine. "But I do admire what you did, what you all did." Purity said with a soft smile, proud of Peridot and everyone else for attempting to help the Kindergarten. "Oh who am I kidding?! It's not going to work! And the rest of the world will be like this because of me!" Peridot suddenly cried out loud, nearly making Topaz go deaf. "No, no, no, no. Peridot. It won't happen, I prom-." Steven tried reassuring the green gem, but no avail.

"No! It'll happen because I DID THIS! My own actions had consequences in store, now nothing's ever going to get better because of me! Everything is just ruined forever! We can't get anything back! Not my home or my ship because of Starby, not Lapis because I drove her away and not this planet either because I ratted it and those humans out to the Diamonds! I might as well just throw my hopes in the garbage and toss myself in after because it's all just hopeless trash, especially how I treated Lapis. She's...she's...she's never going to forgive me after what I said to her…" Peridot yelled before sadly falling to her knees, thinking about how she accidently lashed out at Lapis.

As she regretted her actions, the green gem felt Steven hugging her, causing her to calm down gradually. "Peridot...she _will_ forgive you. I promise." Steven said soothingly. "B-But what abo-" Peridot started, only to be cut off by Steven who spoke once more. "You both said things you didn't mean...but we've been through a lot with her. You just have to give her time to calm down...and she'll be fine." Steven said, calming the green gem down.

"I...I just wanted to fix this stupid place...so it could be a start to fixing everything..." Peridot said shakingly. "I know..." Steven responded soothingly. "What was wrong with Lapis? I've never seen her this scared before. All she did was take on those clods when you got taken...it's not like, she magically lost her courage." Peridot asked with desperation. "Maybe she's afraid...but I don't think it happens that fast..." Steven said, trying to be optimistic.

"Fear manipulation..." Purity spoke with sorrow, picking up one of the dead sunflowers while gaining the attention of the gang. "W-What?" Peridot asked in concern. "That's one of Black Diamond's main abilities. To make a gem see their worst fears through her orange eyes and cause them to go mad with fear. None of the crystal gems were able to stop if from happening. And the thing about Noir...she never hesitates to use it." The Omni-Diamond explained, recalling events during the war.

"So that's what happened with Lapis...she looked into Noir's eyes, just like Connie looked into her eyes." Steven gasped in realisation. "Indeed." Purity responded. "Yo...that's crazy." Amethyst said in horror. "Oh but it's true...it actually happened." Bismuth added in Purity's defence. "Oh mon goodnez." Citrine gasped. "Stars above..." Imperia added in horror.

"How bad is that power?" Steven then asked with worry, really hoping that it wasn't that bad, but was met with his worries confirmed. "Very bad...we've all had our fears. With Snowflake, she was worried about freezing the whole planet since the war. With Larimar, it was hearing screams of fear instead of screams of joy. With Bismuth, it was her fear of losing everyone close to her. Noir forced almost all the Crystal Gems to see our fears." Purity explained sadly.

"Woah...thank goodness I don't see any of my fears. I mean...I really wouldn't like being afraid forever..." Amethyst said in a hint of relief. "It's possible for it to be permanent. It's happened with one of us...so badly, that we had to crack her gem." Bismuth said, pointing at Mali. The defective gem's gemstone was cracked, but it was shocking how it had happened.

"Mali's gem was cracked to stop her from being afraid?" Steven asked in surprise. "Yes...her powers were out of control, so I had to act." Bismuth said in shame. "I still haven't forgiven her for doing that." Purity then said crossly to her dear friend. "Yeah...I know...but it was the only way to make sure it stopped for good." Bismuth said in her defence.

Peridot however...was absolutely furious at the mention of what Black Diamond had done. Even gaining everyone's attention. "P-Peri...are you...ok there?" Steven asked nervously, not getting an answer from Peridot. "She...is going...to PAY!" The green gem growled in anger. "W-Woah, take it easy tiger." Bismuth said in surprise. "Nobody messes with _my_ Lapis! Well the sooner we come across that black-hearted clod again, the sooner I'm gonna show her what happens when you mess with the gems that I care about!" Peridot said firmly with determination and anger, trashing the dead sunflower bed in a fit of rage. "Alright Peridot, we get it, just calm down." Amethyst insisted.

All the while, Topaz was distracted by the sight of the little flower that was growing in the Kindergarten. "_Hmm...if all the sunflowers didn't work? Then maybe that little flower has something that we could examine? Yeah, I guess I could bring it back to see how it's been growing._" She thought to herself with optimism. The huge fusion then unfused into her two smaller counterparts and they tried to lift the plant, but surprisingly...they found it to be a lot harder to pull than the other plants. "Ngh, it's so heavy." Topa groaned in exhaustion. "I know...try pulling it at the stem to see if that works." Azzy suggested, allowing Topa to do so. However, upon doing so, the ground began to rumble, not only scaring the two gems, but also the others as well, even Purity felt the rumble herself. "Uh, what's happening?" Mali asked in concern.

"H-Hey! Good news, we found out why the plant has been growing in the kindergarten!" Topa said in a nervous version of excitement. "You did?! How is it growing?!" Peridot said in sudden excitement. "Well that's...the bad news..." Azzy said before sheepishly pointing behind her, revealling a huge plant-like monster which roared at the gems. It looked like a giant turnip with the flower on top, it had a fanged maw at the front of her body and had four root-like legs. "Oh, of course!" Peridot groaned in annoyance despite a chuckle afterwards. "Huh...I guess we must've missed one." Bismuth said in surprise.

Without warning, the corrupted gem grabbed Azzy with a hand like tongue and ate her. "AZZY!" Topa screamed in horror, seeing her fusion partner get eaten up. Purity attempted to free the poor Topaz, but was suddenly whacked away by the plant, hitting her gem off the Kindergarten walls in the process. "PURITY! Ohohoho, you did NOT just do that!" Bismuth growled as she tried to cut the plant gem down.

Bismuth failed when she too got eaten by the plant. "Oh no, oh nonononono! You've gotta save Azzy guys! You're my only hope!" Topa pleaded with all her heart to Steven. "Don't worry, we'll get her out!" Steven said with reassurance as he rushed towards the plant along with Amethyst and Peridot. "Citrine, try and blast it out onto the surface!" Amethyst said to Citrine, who nodded and got out her blaster. "I'll pin it down with my arrows if it'll help!" Imperia added, summoning a few arrows for the job.

Steven, Peridot and Amethyst ran towards the plant monster before it burrowed underground and appeared behind the trio. As soon as it appeared, Amethyst used her whip to grab the monster's leg and Peridot used her boomerang as a way to get Bismuth and Azzy out, but it failed and the monster dragged Amethyst undeground. Steven and Peridot both ran after the monster and attempted to catch up with it.

"I think we need Smoky for the job." Steven said to Peridot as he attempted to fuse Amethyst, only to be whacked up out of the ground and straight up into the air along with Peridot. "Oh great...now we won't have ANY chance to make things better!" Peridot groaned in defeat. "Hey! I know you and Lapis. From the entire time we've been together, I've never seen you guys apart. Yeah...I know the two of us have had someone leave us for a long time...but if we do this together, then we can do the right thing...so what do you say? Together?" Steven said, feeling sad about what happened but feeling as if they could make things right again.

As soon as Peridot saw Steven extend his hand towards her, she smiled with confidence. "Yeah, let's do this!" Peridot said, immediately grabbing Steven's hand without hesitation. The duo were engulfed in a bright orange light which blasted back towards the Kindergarten. Amethyst was having a hard time pulling out the plant monster. It was even harder for Citrine and Imperia to take down the monster with Topa and Mali helping Purity with a badly cracked gemstone.

The plant monster was suddenly blasted back by an orange fist. "Woah...wait, who did that?" Amethyst asked in confusion before looking behind to see a gem who was taller than her and Citrine. "With the brightest star, and the darkest space, No problem shall disrupt my pace. Let those clods who worship the Diamonds' might, beware my power: Amber's Light!" The gem said, revealing to be a fusion of Steven and Peridot. The fusion had orange hair, bright orange skin, an orange visor and a mixture of Steven and Peridot's clothes.

"Aw yeah! That's the way to do it P-Dot!" Amethyst said with excitement, cheering the fusion on. "Actually, it's Amber...but thanks." Amber said with a blush before she was met with the Plant Monster's face. "Guess it's time for you to throw in the _trowel_." Amber said as she constructed a guarden trowel out of an orange substance se created and attempted to slice the plant monster. When it failed, Amber constructed a bunch of other gardening tools to fight the monster until finally she gave up and constructed a huge tractor where she rammed the monster down the hole with it.

Amber waited for Amethyst to arrive before unfusing back into Steven and Peridot. "I'll let Smoky do the rest." Peridot said with a wink before Steven nodded confidently and turned towards Amethyst. "Ready Amethyst!" He asked with confidence. "Ready, Ste-man!" Amethyst responded before the duo fused into Smoky Quartz for the first time in a while.

The huge fusion threw the monster back onto the surface where it landed roughly onto the ground. Smoky immediately saw this as an opportunity to use her yo-yos and used three of them to squeeze the plant monster and poof it. Bismuth and Azzy then appeared on the ground, looking a bit weak, but managed to get back up afterwards. "Heh, took you rocks long enough. Did I miss anythin'?" Bismuth asked with a smile of relief. "Nothing much Bismuth." Smoky said as she bubbled the gemstone and sent it back to the temple.

"Oh no, Purity!" Bismuth yelped as she rushed over to where Topa and Mali were, seeing Purity's cracked gemstone. "Are you ok?! Oh no, we gotta get you to Rose's-" Bismuth began in a panic, but was immediately stopped by Purity. "I'm fine...it's only a minor crack, nothing to fly off the handle with..." The Omni-Diamond said with a soft smile.

Steven then proceeded to heal his mentor's gemstone and Topa was once again Reunited with Azzy. "Heh...that was a waste of a fight you had." A voice suddenly said behind the group, gaining their attention to the last gem that they'd expect. "J-Jasper?!" Steven yelped in shock as she unfused back into Steven and Amethyst. "Hmph...I take it you're still standing Rose?" The powerful quartz said with a groan as she jumped down from the injector. "Get back you clod! I have been through a lot today and I-" Peridot began, summoning her metal boomerang until she was cut off by Jasper.

"Relax you idiots...I'm not here to fight. I already told that whimpy Pearl of yours that when she unbubbled me." Jasper spoke in annoyance. "Then why did you come back?" Purity asked in a bit of suspicion. "After learning that someone _else_ shattered my diamond, I came back because I want to know who that gem is so I can take them down once and for all." Jasper explained, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"W-Wait…you're saying that Pink Diamond wasn't shattered by Rose Quartz at all?!" Peridot asked in shock along with Amethyst. "Oh yeah, I forgot…I heard about it on Homeworld. I believe one of the other diamonds did it. Not Red Diamond or Green Diamond...but maybe one of the other Diamonds did it." Steven explained from what he heard.

"Y-Yeah...I think they did it to stop some prophecy which said Rose would dismantle the authority." Topaz explained to Peridot. "My stars...there's more to the shattering than any of us thought..." Imperia said in shock. "Indeed...but for now, why not head home so we can discuss it there?" Purity suggested. "Hmph...fine by me." Jasper groaned, still not trusting Steven despite everything. "I think my legs are going mushy anyway." Peridot said as she began walking away.

* * *

Back on the train home...

Everyone was relaxing on the train despite the disappointment in the air. "Man, you were right. The Kindergarten really is dead forever." Amethyst said sadly. "Only because of the Genesis Orb. I really was a fool to think we could reinstitute life there without returning the energy there first." Peridot groaned. "So...is it possible to return the planetary energy to it's rightful place?" Topaz asked with concern. "Oh it is, I even designed a failsafe to return the energy to where it originally came from...but it does come with a heavy price to the user." Purity explained in a serious tone. "And...what price would that be?" Bismuth asked in confusion. "Trust me...you do _not_ want to know." Purity insisted.

"Hmph...I can't believe I missed out on all the fun, beating that mutated runt into the ground and all. But on another side...at least I have a new lead on finding my Diamond's shatterer." Jasper admitted with a smirk. "Yeah...tell me about it..." Steven groaned, still worried about who shattered Pink Diamond if it wasn't his mother.

"All right. I'll talk. I was pretty much using this as a distraction from yelling at Lapis and losing both our barn and my foot cruiser to Starby, and just a general sense of complete hopelessness I tend to deal with on a day-to-day basis. But it really only confirmed to me that once you mess something up, it's ruined for good and nothing will ever be able to grow again." Peridot admitted sadly before feeling a hand touch her shoulder. "Lapis knows you care for her...but this is something that _she_ needs to figure out on her own. She will return in time." Purity explained with reassurance to Peridot, allowing her to slightly smile.

Steven then averted his eyes and noticed something outside in the countryside. "Oh wow..." He said, gazing upon a beautiful field of sunflowers that were passing by. "What about all this?" Steven suggested, gaining everyone's attention. "Now that's some plants." Amethyst said as she noticed Citrine glowing with happiness when she laid eyes upon the beautiful field. "Wow. I never realised how beautiful life was on this Earth since I got back." Bismuth said in amazement.

"Huh. I suppose the countryside out here is pretty beautiful. But who cares? I wanted to have this for the Kindergarten!" Peridot said, sounding a little stressed on the last part. "One day we will..." Purity said calmly but firmly. "But even if there was nothing we could do for that one patch of land, there's still an entire Earth blooming all around us." Steven said, gesturing the whole field if not the very planet itself. "Now that's a brilliant idea." Bismuth said in agreement.

"Yeah! Why don't we try gardening in literally any other place? It'll be easier than trying to plant in the Kindergarten. That lifeless dirt doesn't care how green your thumb is." Amethyst said a little bluntly, but caringly. "Green thumb! becausé you aré green!" Citrine giggled as she continued to glow. "Yeah, yeah, get it all out of your system Citrine." Peridot groaned in embarrassment.

"So...you in Peri?" Bismuth asked with a smirk. "Um..." Peridot started with hesitation. "Do it, do it, do it, say yes!" Steven and Citrine said with encouragement. "There's no shame in doing so Peridot, that's all they're saying..." Purity said as she glowed blue slightly. "Oh what the heck, I've litterally nothing to else to do except be with my buddies." Peridot said with a smirk. This caused the group to cheer, apart from Purity and Jasper. "Heh...you're all optimistic idiots...I like that." Jasper then spoke up with a smile, admiring the optimism of the Crystal Gems.

As the group huddled together to watch the sunflowers go by, Steven felt a bit of worry rise up within him. "If only Nora could see this...or if she was still here..." Steven then said, wondering what Nora would say if she saw the sunflowers. "She'll be fine...I hope so anyway. As soon as we find a way, we'll see her again." Peridot said with a hint of optimism for Nora.

"Says the gem who got dumped by Lapis." Jasper said jokingly despite being a bit blunt. "She didn't _dump_ me! But...If only I could find her again...reach for her hand, and say I'm sorry...do you think she'd ever forgive me?" Peridot asked her friends, earning a hug from Imperia and Citrine in the process. "Don't worry Peri, I'm sure she will forgive you." Imperia responded with a warm smile. "Oui." Citrine added. "Yeah, I mean, I think she loves you like we do, so she'll forgive you when you see her again." Amethyst said with a lot of reassurance.

On the roof of the train car however...Lapis was listening into the conversation and smiled sweetly to the thought about Peridot missing her and caring for her. "She already has..." She said sweetly to herself, not wanting to give away where she was before flying off to find the barn.

* * *

Meanwhile...

Far across the galaxy on another world

Klavius 7

There was a huge cosmic jubilee being held with all the fancy upper class gems, Jades, Rubies, Sapphires, Quartzes etc. All of which were in line and in front of a pretty red gem in front of them, she was also with the same Emerald from Homeworld and a robotic green gem beside her. "To those attending our 1000th anniversary of the creation of the Prisms, I'd like to thank you for attending once more, and I hope you all enjoy this Jubilee, one way or another. Oooh, but let the dance begin!" The red gem with glee, allowing her subjects to adore her before the dance began.

Everyone of them danced as the three gems sat and watched in satisfaction. "My, my, Pyrope...it appears that you haven't lost your radiance. It was so generous of you to come all the way from your Palace of Light to host this year's Cosmic Jubilee." Emerald said as she kissed the red gem's, also known as Pyrope, hand with respect. "Oh, you're always so kind to me Emerald. And those rare Sapphires you brought me were absolutely delightful. Yes, one of their delayed visions is annoying, but I'll soon sort her out once I find...wherever she's gone." Pyrope said with a blush.

It was then that she turned towards a gem that wore a hood. "And Commander Roselite, I trust your journey here was pleasant?" Emerald asked, kissing _Roselite's _hand as well. "Oh it was. A little rough no doubt, but pleasant all the same." The gem said without removing her hood. As the regal gems watched their royal jades dance away, Emerald was immediately notified by one of her Peridots who told her about an intruder within the palace. "Commander Roselite, we have reports of intruders that have snuck into our palace, would you care to take them out please? Oh, and here, you'll need this keycard." Emerald ordered the gem beside her. "I'll see them shattered personally Emerald." Roselite responded as she walked away to find the intruders after receiving a keycard.

The commander walked outside and turned right the corridor where she noticed a herd of familiar gems, them being Fluorite's Tourmalines, or rather two of them who had become a Purple Tourmaline, and Rhodonite's Pearl. She then proceeded to walk towards them and removed her own hood. She revealed herself to be Nora Universe, who had disguised herself to hid from Emerald. "Well...that went pretty well, right?" She said with a faint chuckle, hiding from a few Citrine Guards who had just missed them.

Over the last two weeks, Nora and the Off Colours had been on the run from Emerald and her troops, and during that time she accidently crashed her original shuttle on a planet known as Upsilon 9, it was good that they were able to find another ship, but when Emerald found out, she wasn't too pleased. It was also a crazy adventure to her the gang, they explored other planets, mostly planets belonging to Blue and Black Diamonds, they even befriended many gems along the way, who helped them out.

However, Fluorite's components: Titanite, one of the Tourmalines and Iolite, and Padparadscha were all captured by Emerald. Pink and Blue Tourmalines and Lilac Jade were worried sick when they thought they would never see them again, even Rhodonite was terrified for Padparadscha's safety as well. After the day before, Nora and her crew were working around the clock to rescue Fluorite's component. Lilac Jade and Rhodonite's Ruby were undercover, dancing with the rest of Pyrope's court while keeping an eye on the movements of their enemies, Rhodonite's Pearl was acting as Nora's, or rather Roselite's, servent and Purple Tourmaline was waiting to sneak her friends out.

"So how'd it go?" Purple Tourmaline asked with concern. "You're lucky I got the key card. But, I think it went pretty well." Nora responded. "Oh good. Now all we need to do is sneak past all the gems in Pyrope's court and we'll get the others back." Rhodonite's Pearl said with optimism. "Good idea. Need me to crash the party, Nora?" Purple Tourmaline suggested as she unfused back into Pink and Blue Tourmalines. "No, we have to do it quietly. If we do that, they'll know what we're up to. So we need to play this right." Nora insisted, making a really good point. After agreeing on Nora, she and the gems snuck past the Citrine Guards when Lilac Jade distracted them with a cry for help.

* * *

Within the dungeons

Nora, Rhodi's Pearl and Purple Tourmaline searched everywhere for their missing friends, going all around the place. "Iolite? Titanite? Green Tourmaline? Padparadscha? Where are you guys?" Nora whispered, calling out the names of Fluorite's components. "Over here!" Iolite called, leading Nora and the other gems to the three components of Fluorite and Padparadscha. "Are we so glad to see you Nora." Titanite said with relief.

Nora then shut down the cell and freed the three gems. Allowing Green Tourmaline to reunite with her three tourmaline sisters for the first time in a while. "Thank goodness you guys got here, how'd you get past security?" Iolite asked with amazement as she gently made her way out of the cell. "Let's just say I had to..._blend in_." Nora said with a smirk of confidence, but of course, Iolite had already predicted it. "I predict Nora and the others will come to rescue us. Oh my...there they are! I knew they'd come for us." Padparadscha then said through her usual delayed visions.

"C'mon now, we've gotta get outta here before we're spotted." Rhodonite's Pearl said, and even Nora agreed with her. Having gotten the six gems together, Nora let her friends out of the dungeons. However, they were suddenly stopped when Nora realised that there were a lot of guards looking around the hallways from within the ballroom archways, thus making it look impossible for the gang to sneak out. "Aw no, this is gonna be a problem. How are we going to get back there now?" Green Tourmaline asked with worry. "I fear this was going to be the case." Iolite said out of worry.

Nora then had a thought. She knew that every gem being in the empire was going along with the rules, but being with another gem...now that would be dismissing all of them. With enough info in mind, it all came together pretty clearly. "You guys take the hidden way and avoid those guards, I'll try to distract everyone with Padparadscha." Nora then said to her friends as she gently held Padparadscha's hand. "Oh my, Nora has a plan...but not a very good plan." The orange sapphire spoke with worry as she was escorted into the dance floor.

"Oh no...Nora, be careful!" Blue Tourmaline whispered out of fear as Nora and Padparadscha made their way into the crowd of dancing gems. Holding Padparadscha's hand gracefully, Nora swiftly danced all the way over to the entrance, also trying to distract everyone on the floor. For a few moments everything seemed to be going well enough to distract the guards from the other gems, however the two of them were spotted by Demantoid. "Pyrope...there is a problem." She said to Pyrope as she pointed Nora and Padparadscha, dancing their way across the room.

As Rhodonite's Pearl tried to sneak the gems out of the palace, they managed to get Rhodonite's Ruby and Fluorite's Jade out as well. Unfortunately, they were spotted by Emerald and Demantoid. "Commander Roselite?! What is the meaning of this?!" Pyrope asked in absolute disgust, frightening Nora in the process. "Eeep..." She squeaked in fright. "Nora, a shocking vision has befallen me, everyone in the ballroom will notice us trying to escape with our friends." Padparadscha said with worry.

"What?! Escape?! With our prisoners?!" Pyrope screeched in anger, getting to her feet in the process. "Ugh, now you get it." Demantoid spoke in annoyance. "Ugh! How did I fall for that stupid disguise of yours?! Guards?! Get them!" Emerald growled, summoning her guards to seize Nora and Padparadscha, whilst everyone rushed out of the ballroom. Thankfully, the tourmaline sisters rushed over and took on the guards with their powers, like Invisibility, Shapeshifted Weapons and even a crystallic shield too.

Iolite and Jade then finished the job swiftly with a little bit of a cyclone to blow the guards away. "Thank goodness you girls are alright." Lilac Jade said in relief as she hugged Iolite. "Hang on, we're one gem short. Where's-" Pink Tourmaline began, only to be cut off by a very furious Emerald. "You've got some nerve sneaking in and disrupting this cosmic jubilee! Well you're not going to make it out of this so easily, _Roselite_! Or whoever you are!" Emerald growled as she stood aside to let Demantoid blast the gang. Thankfully however...Titanite appeared and used her brute strength to smash the ground and knock her foes back and causing everyone to fall to the ground.

"Titanite! Nice of you to join the party." Lilac Jade then said with relief. "Heh, it definately wasn't the same without you guys." Titanite said gratefully as she then reunited with her other components and formed Fluorite again. Rhodonite even fused once again after her two components found each other. "Nora. Thank you." Fluorite said gratefully, stroking the little girl's hair.

"You're welcome..." Nora said without hesitation. "H-Hey, I hate to break up the moment but, we gotta get outta here!" Rhodonite said, having just relaxed for a second before pointing to the oncoming Citrine guards. "Careful everyone, the guards are coming for us." Padparadscha said after Rhodonite picked her up out of fear. "We've gotta get out of here, come on!" Nora said as she and the Off-Colors rushed for the entrance of the palace. "GUARDS! AFTER THEM!" Emerald yelled, getting her Citrine guards to chase after the gang.

* * *

Outside the palace

Nora and the girls were rushing away from the Citrine guards. Pyrope, Demantoid and Emerald were also chasing after them. "You're not getting away from us that easily you pathetic off-colors!" Emerald growled, chasing down her enemies ahead of the other gems.

"Ruty, Tila, get the ship ready!" Nora said on a communicator as she and her friends rushed towards the ship. "_You got it Nora!_" "_It'll take a few moments but you'd better get here quick._" The twins said as they fired up their new ship's engines. "Careful Nora, we're being followed!" Padparadscha said in concern. "Ohh come on! How can you give us that at a time like this?!" Rhodonite groaned in annoyance as she kept running for her life.

The Off-Colors got on board their ship and the twins were prepared to take off, when Nora's leg was suddenly grabbed without warning, tripping her up. She shrieked in fright before turning to see Emerald grabbing her leg "Gotcha!" Emerald chuckled, attempting to drag Nora off the ship with the young girl clinging to the railing. "Go, go now!" She yelled to the Rutiles, coming up with a crazy plan as she get the twin gems to take off immediately. Emerald then slipped off the ramp when the ship began hovering off the ground, while still holding onto Nora's leg.

The green gem screamed in fright as she tried to keep herself from falling off the ship. Fluorite saw what was happening and tried reaching for Nora. "S-Sorry Emerald, but I guess this is your stop!" Nora said, shaking her leg while trying to get rid of Emerald. "You can't get rid of me! Who do you think you are?!" Emerald growled in anger as she tried dragging Nora down with her, only to be met with Nora's sweetly smug face. "The name's Starr...Nora Starr." Nora said, giving herself a name as she constructed a pink polygonal boot and kicked Emerald off the ramp, sending her flying into one of the palace walls.

* * *

Outside the planet's atmosphere...

Fluorite then helped Nora into the ship as the ramp closed. "Nora. That. Was silly. You. Could have. Gotten hurt." Fluorite said in relief. "She's right you know, you could have fallen along with Emerald." Rhodonite pointed out crossly. "Hey, go easy on her." "She rescued Fluorite, something we couldn't have done on our own." Ruty and Tila pointed out in Nora's defence. "I know...but what's done is done and...I think I'm getting the hang of this." Nora said as she made her way up to the cockpit to sit with the twins.

"Alright, where to next?" Nora said, relaxing in her seat as Ruty and Tila searched for a planet to lay low on for a while. "We should be able to settle down on an abandoned ocean planet in the next sector." "Yeah, thankfully it was abandoned due to high weather at night, so we should be able to settle there for a few hours or so." The Twins said with high hopes.

"Then that's where we head next, and we're one step closer to getting home." Nora said, looking at a photo of herself, her friends and her brother. "We did it everyone! We escaped the palace with Fluorite!" Padparadscha said through her delayed visions. "Heh, we sure did, Paddi. We sure did." Rhodonite said as the ship blasted off into the next sector.

* * *

Back at the palace...

Emerald was helped out of the wall and boy was she throwing a huge tantrum over losing to Nora and her Off-Color friends. "RGH! That little minx! I'll hunt her to the edge of the galaxy for this!" Emerald growled in anger as Pyrope approached her gracefully, but angrilly at the same time. "And to think I actually thought that she was actually the captain of the Imperial Officers! Ooooh this is outrageous!" She growled, staring up into the skies where her enemies had fled.

"Those obsolete gems may have gotten past us...but why not contact Black Diamond about this...?" Demantoid asked, giving a very sinister idea to Emerald without hesitation. "Black Diamond...? But she could shatter us for failing to catch those off-colors!" Pyrope gasped in horror. "She always turns to us when we need help, and we've also heard that the villainous Rose Quartz had escaped, so this may be our chance to get those obsolete gems." Demantoid explained coldly, providing the two gems with a very good point. "Well then...watch out Nora Starr..." Emerald then said with a wicked grin, staring up into the stars. "...the hunt is on." She finished, preparing her troops for immediate lauch.

* * *

**Well, another chapter has ended after a long while**

**And yeah...it looks like Nora is still surviving.**

**Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter and I hope you enjoyed it**

**Negaboss2000 out ^^**


	6. Kevin Party

**Greetings from Negaboss2000**

**Back with another chapter of AOTG 3**

**Finally, I think it's time to bring Connverse back together after five chapters**

**So with that said, let's get into the story **

* * *

**Kevin Party**

One Friday Morning...

At Fish Stew Pizza

Steven had put up a missing poster of Lion on the inside of the pizzeria's windows, and it was one of a quite a lot of posters that he had put up. Yesterday, the young boy had finally let fear get the best of him and he wanted desperately to find Lion to see if his twin sister, Nora, was ok or even still alive for that matter.

Zach and Peridot were helping out as well as Zach had finished his shift at the Big Donut and Peridot had nothing better to do either. The trio left the place but not before Steven turned back to face someone. "If you see him, call me right away. He's my only inter-dimensional gateway to space and to my sister, and I love him." He said as he walked off with the others following him immediately.

"Bro, there's no rush. We will see Nora again, I promise." Zach said, trying his best to reassure Steven after seeing the Hive Mind glow purple, indicating that Steven was getting anxious about Nora. "I know, Zach. But I'm really starting to worry about Nora. I haven't seen Lion for a while and I've got no way of knowing if my sister is ok..." Steven said stressfully before sighing sadly.

"Bro...she'll be ok. I'm worried about her too, so is everyone else at her school, and even Connie too." Zach said, telling Steven that he wasn't the only one worrying about Nora, but mentioning Connie. "She said that I was ungrateful for her decision remember? She just acted like Nora was nothing to her!" Steven said, recalling how Connie treated Nora after she was stranded on Homeworld. "Ugh, how many times must I remind you? It was Nora's decision! Nothing for you or that inconsiderate big-nosed clod to get angry over. It was all _Nora's_ decision!" Peridot blurted out in annoyance.

Steven stopped for a brief moment. "Uh...I know that, and for the record, would never describe Connie like that." He said awkwardly in regards to how Peridot described Connie for her own actions a few weeks ago. "Look...my point is, Nora had snacks on Homeworld to last her for at least a few weeks. So hopefully we'll be able to see her again before she runs out of them and-I'm not helping am I?" Peridot said before realising that she was saying the wrong thing all together.

"My point is...Lion'll show up somewhere and then we can finally see Nora again." Zach said, making Steven feel a little bit better. "Yeah...you're right. Still...it's better to make sure that we find Lion either way." Steven said as a little smile formed on his face. "Good idea too." Peridot said with approval. The trio then looked over all the missing fliers they had to see how many more it would take for people to look for Lion. "Ok, I think we have enough fliers left to-" Steven began, oblivious to a speeding yellow customised Himitsu X-12 that was heading right towards him.

"STEVEN, LOOK OUT!" Zach yelped as he used the Hive Mind to quickly yank Steven to safety moments before the car stopped right in front of the trio. In the process, all the fliers that Steven was holding had flown out of his hands. "HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING YOU CLOD!" Peridot yelled to the driver of the car, who stepped out of the car and flicked their hair. Thus revealing themselves to be someone familiar that Steven disliked very much: Kevin Galaxy.

"What are you dudes doing Saturday night?" Kevin asked as he glanced towards Steven and Zach. The two boys just stared at Kevin with annoyance before walking away to collect the fliers that they dropped. "We're VERY busy that night, so nobody cares." Peridot then responded, sticking out her tongue towards Kevin before following the boys much to Kevin's shock. "Hey! Listen, little dudes." He said as he ran after the trio. "Beat it, Kevin." Steven said bitterly to Kevin.

"Yeah, nobody's interested in what you have to show off, especially your stupid modified Eco-destroying car. So get lost!" Zach added, saying that Kevin's car was trash, which is usually something that his dad would say about Kevin's kind of car or Galaxy Corporations. "Look, I'm throwing a party at my parents' palatial estate. All the coolest teens in Delmarva have RSVP'd, to it. All of them...except one; the only one cooler than I am." Kevin said, saying what he was doing Saturday night.

Hearing the mention of a teenager that was cooler than Kevin, Steven and Zach both stopped to look at him. "Are...you talking about me or Zach?" Steven asked in slight disgust. "Or me for that matter?" Zach added in confusion. "What? No! Eww! Neither of you. I'm talking about Stevonnie." Kevin said with a whisper, thus making Steven even more disgusted than he was before. "W-W-What?! You can't just-" Steven stated before he grumbled in annoyance. "Bro, that's just crazy. Uh...who's Stevonnie?" Zach said firmly before turning to Steven in confusion. "This is the last thing I need right now." Steven then said bitterly as he went past Kevin to pick up the last of the fliers.

"Look kid, Stevonnie is better than me, ok? She's a better dancer, better driver. Stevonnie truly does not care what anyone thinks. That's why they're the coolest." Kevin pointed out, much to his annoyance on _past encounters_ with Stevonnie. "But why do you even need her anyway?" Zach asked in annoyance. "My point being, Connors, if I can't _be _the coolest, then I at lest got to be seen _hanging_ with the coolest." Kevin explained to Zach, revealing the reason for wanting Stevonnie.

"Stevonnie only exists when Connie and I are together, and we're...I'm not coming, and neither is Zach." Steven said, sad about being without Connie and refusing Kevin's offer. "Yeah. So why don't you get back into that eco-deathtrap and get lost!" Zach said firmly, making Kevin pretty much annoyed...or at least that's what Zach assumed.

"Oh great...so I invited that other kid and her friend for nothing." Kevin sighed in annoyance as he walked back to his car. Because of the Hive Mind however, Steven and Zach immediately turned back towards the rude teen in shock. "Wh-Connie's going?!" The two boys yelped, rushing over to Kevin and dropping all the fliers. "HEY! I thought we were supposed to hang the rest of these?!" Peridot grumbled in annoyance as she was left to pick up the fliers.

"Kevin, bro, wait wait wait wait wait! Did you say that Connie was going to _your_ party?" Zach asked in shock. "Of course she's going, especially her red-haired detective friend. Besides, nobody turns down a Kevin party." Kevin said, mentioning someone else, someone who immediately made Zach realise who he was on about.

"Wait...was this friend of Connie's wearing a dark purple kitty hat?" Zach asked, just to make sure. "Yes?" Kevin responded in confusion. "Did she have red hair with purple streaks that was tied into a side ponytail?" Zach asked once again with a hint of excitement. "Yes?!" Kevin responded, this time in a little more annoyed tone. "Did she also have emerald eyes, a pair of goggles on her head and a magnifying glass shaped necklace?" Zach asked, feeling excited and nervous at the same time. "YES! That was Connie's Friend! What's your point?!" Kevin yelled in annoyance.

Zach felt his heart pumping faster than the speed of light, even causing the hive mind to glow both yellow and purple at the same time, indicating his emotions. "Rogue's going...I don't believe it." He said in shock. "Hang on, Connie can't stand you. Why the heck would she-" Steven began, only to realise something as he and Zach looked at each other with shock.

"Kev...did you say this to her to?!" Zach asked in shock as Kevin got back into his car and started it up. "Did you make her all nervous about choosing to RSVP too?!" He then asked as he rushed up to the window along with Steven. "Does she think we're-" Steven began before he tripped, got back up and went to the window along with Zach.

"IS IT TOO LATE TO RSVP?! Jinx!" The two boys yelped in desperation. Kevin then rolled down the window of his car and looked at the duo. "Yeah. But I'll make an exception...for Stevonnie. Plus, you used to be my half brother's lackey, so you can come too Connors." Kevin said firmly before driving away.

However, it must have been less than a minute before Kevin came back towards the two boys. "Wait. What's your number? I'll text you the address." He said in annoyance, asking for Steven's number. "Oh. Yeah uh... 301-555-" Steven began, only for Kevin's to stop him, thus spare him of any droning. "Here, you enter it." He said, handing his phone for Steven to type in his number.

"Ok, uh...how do I-?" Steven asked before being immediately answered. "You roll the little ball to navigate." Kevin explained to the young boy. "The screen is so tiny." Steven said as he tried to enter his contact details. "Yeah, you're telling me bro." Zach said, preferring his own phone rather than Kevin's overall.

"Here." Steven then said, handing the small phone back to Kevin. "Huh, your name's Steven? Weird. I thought it was Clarence." Kevin said in disgust. "That's Steven. Not Clarence, _jerk_..." Zach said, mumbling the last bit under his breath. "Eh, whatevs. See you at the party Saturday, bros." Kevin said without a care before turning his car around and driving away.

"You thinking what I'm thinking...?" Zach said as the nervous excitement feeling came back to him in an instant. "Yeah...and I'm not ready." Steven responded as he looked at Zach with a nervous tone. "Me too..." Zach gulped, feeling like it was about to go horribly wrong. "Hey clods! What just happened?!" Peridot asked in confusion and annoyance, gaining the attention of the two boys. "Uh yeah...Peri, how about we forget the fliers for now?" Zach suggested sheepishly. "What? Why?" Peridot asked in confusion. "'Cause we're going to a party tomorrow night." Steven responded, feeling like his heart was going to explode...until he fainted.

* * *

The Next Night

At the Galaxy Residence

Every single coolest teen in Delmarva had attended the party like Kevin had said, with mid-tempo music playing, a lot of chattering going on and no neighbours to complain about the noise either. Normally it wouldn't be possible for Kevin to throw a party like this one, but since his father was working on a huge project, Kevin had the chance to do whatever he want, especially throw a party there without even knowing.

It was then that Steven, Zach, Peridot and Amethyst arrived in the back yard of the estate. Steven wore the shirt that Connie gave him for his 14th birthday just to look cool. Zach also tried to look like a cool teen when he wore a dark indigo shirt, his purple neck scarf and some denim jeans, but for some reason, he also brought the Hive Mind along. Peridot also wanted to tag along because she was quite keen on seeing house human teens interact and Amethyst came just for the fun of it.

The quadret's presence attracted a lot of attention from several of the teens, making them very uncomfortable...well, all except for Amethyst and Peridot. "Yo, what's your deal?" Amethyst asked rhetorically with a glare, making the teens go back to their activities in an instant. "Well that's one way of getting rid of any attention." Zach said sheepishly.

"Well, well, well...if it ain't Nora Uselessverse's twin dwarf of a brother. We meet again." A familiar voice spoke, causing Steven and the others to turn in the direction of the voice. In front of them was someone the boys never expected to see again, Darren Galaxy, wearing a black denim jacket over his ripped tank top. He was also with Cadence, who was wearing a fabulous outfit and his other two lackeys.

"D-Darren? W-What are you-?" Steven stuttered out of fear. "You've got some nerve being here, and the same goes for you too, dumb loser." Darren growled, revealing to have a gold knuckle duster on his fist. "Hey babe, you promised you would wait until the right moment." Cadence said with a playful pouting expression. "And I still intend on keeping it babe. Besides...if they back out, I'm gonna-" Darren began, only to be cut off when Kevin arrived. "D-man? What are you doing-? Ugh, about time!" He said, passing Darren as he approached Steven and his friends.

"Steven, Connors, what took you guys so long?!" Kevin then asked in annoyance. "We were like, expecting you guys half of five minutes before." Cadence then said in disgust. "I-I got lost coming up the driveway, in fact we all got lost." Steven admitted sheepishly. "It was pretty hard because I've never even seen your place before Darren." Zach then pointed out.

"Yo, Kev, D-Man, that's a cool looking kid, but who invited the preschooler and the two weird chicks, bro?" One of the teens asked after noticing Steven and his gang. "Hey, shut your mouth, Derrick! I thought I told you to go buy more ice!" Kevin yelled before cringing as Darren threw a can at the teen. "Yeah, get the ice, or you _become_ ice!" Darren said firmly in annoyance. "Not the right time D-man." Kevin said firmly to Darren.

"Anyway, did you guys just come from picture day at school or something, and why'd those weird looking girls along?" Kevin asked in slight disgust. "Um, we brought snacks?" Steven said, showing the snacks that he and Zach had brought along with Amethyst and Peridot who smiled with pride. Unfortunately for them, Kevin wasn't pleased when he grabbed all the bags of snacks and threw them away. Steven yelped in panic and Zach was annoyed at Kevin's actions.

"Hey! It took us all day to load them on the back of that four wheeled bike you clods!" Peridot complained in annoyance. "Yeah! Why let them go to-?" Zach began, only for Kevin to cut him off. "You don't get it...do you?" He asked in annoyance. "Yeah, and I'm the one having to helping my step brother out in case." Darren then said as he wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's waist. "He's got a point you know guys. This party is lame enough as it is! Look at these people." Kevin said, showing that all the kids who were watching had quickly return to what they were doing.

"This is forgettable, absolutely forgettable. But not for long." Kevin said before a smirk formed on his face. "Yeah, because my half brother said that every time Stevonnie shows up on the scene, and I have no idea who she is, everybody's talking about it." Darren explained from what his brother told him to the gang, Cadence and his lackeys. "And once Stevonnie shows up at our party, everyone's gonna be talking about this night until they're old grandparents, then their last words to their grandchildren will be, Kevin throws the best parties." Kevin said, sounding very delusional. "Aw yeah, bro." Darren said before high-fiving his half brother.

Steven chuckled nervously at the motive behind the party, but Zach was disgusted with what they were doing. "Dude, that is so uncool. You guys just want to be popular, but that's not how it works, you bunch of jerks!" He said, calling out Kevin and his half brother for their stupid ideology. "Uh...lame. Nobody wants some boring party if you can't bend the rules." Cadence groaned in disgust.

"Yeah! Do I have to remind you that you're no longer one of us and your tree-hugging dad and my awesome dad are at war?" Darren pointed out with annoyance. "Uh, what?" Steven asked in confusion before seeing Zach's glare. "Don't you bring my dad into this!" He growled, wanting so badly to hit Darren along with Amethyst, only to be stopped by a nervous Steven. "Ok, ok. I think we got off on the wrong foot here. Look, I'm sure we can find a way to-" He began, only to stop when he noticed a familiar pink lion from a distance and over with a lot of the teens.

"Lion?!" Steven and Amethyst then said in unison. "Hang on, you're the one who had him the whole time?!" Zach asked in confusion and shock. "Did you hold him against your will?!" Peridot asked, demanding for an answer from Darren immediately. "What? Ugh! No, I'm allergic to dogs." Kevin said in disgust. "That's a fully grown lion that you're talking about Kev." Zach pointed out with a deadpan expression.

"Obviously! Plus we didn't have him like...ever, because pink isn't really my colour..._and I really hate lions_." Darren said before shuddering on the last part, leading to Peridot and Amethyst snickering at him. "Then...what's he doing here?" Steven asked in confusion. "Um...I think _that's_ the reason, bro." Zach then said, getting Steven to see where he was gesturing.

In a matter of moments, Lion moved away, thus revealing two girls, one of them was Rogue who a tank red tank top with blue denim shorts and black knee length boots to the party. And the other...was someone Steven knew all too well, anyone wouldn't be able to recognise her with the cyan blue short-sleeved shirt, her knee length skirt held by a high waist belt and brown boots, but that familiar face was enough to attract Steven's realisation. It was Connie. The young girl _was _at the party after all, and it looked liked she had her hair cut short, which made her look pretty. The two girls seemed to be having a great time, chatting with the other teens and all until suddenly noticing Steven and Zach.

"Connie!" "Rogue!" Both Steven and Zach squeaked in fright at the same time as they hid behind Kevin and Darren without warning. "Hey!" Kevin said in annoyance. "Let go of my jacket you dumb loser!" Darren growled, shoving Zach off of him. "Oh man, I haven't seen her in so long. She looks so different." Steven said in a huge panic. "And Rogue still looks the same..." Zach added with the same amount of nervousness as before. The two boys then crouched down and looked at each other with hesitance.

"I thought she'd be here to see me, or us, but maybe she's just here to have a good time. Maybe she's moved on from us. Maybe she doesn't need us anymore." Steven said out of absolute fear. "Bro, I don't think that's the case with Connie. But with Rogue, she did help me to get back into High School, but I don't think she wanted to be around me any longer after that..." Zach said, feeling as if he'd be rejected if he offered Rogue a chance to get back together.

That kind of talk attracted Kevin and his half brother Darren. "Wait wait wait. Both of them moved on? I knew Connors broke up with Felicia, but you and the other girl broke up? No, scrap that. Can 7-year-olds even do that?" Kevin asked in a bit of frustration. "I'm 14, Connie's about...nearly 13?" Steven pointed out with a bit of confusion on Connie's age. "Then Rogue's 14 1/2 and I'm 15." Zach added in a hint of annoyance before he and Steven were yanked to their feet by the Galaxy bros. "Nobody was even talking to you Zach, you dumb loser." Darren spoke bluntly.

"Yeah...nobody cares, dumb loser." One of Darren's lackeys said with a goofy laugh. "Dude, the D-man just said that." The other lackey spoke in annoyance. "You didn't tell me that you broke up with that girl, Steven. And why didn't you say anything Zach? Both of you got free tickets to what would've been the best teen party in Delmarva." Kevin pouted in anger, yet somehow, Darren wasn't furious about the revelation.

"More like the worst party in this case." Amethyst said as she and Peridot snickered. "Shut it you two!" Darren growled, causing the two gems to stop laughing in annoyance. "Well thanks to you, this party's just gonna be some sad kid party getting crashed by a couple of _sad _kids and a pack of weird chicks." Kevin pouted, feeling like everything was going downhill. "Yeah, thanks for nothing you guys." Cadence said, putting shame on the boys.

"Alright, ok. I-I'm leaving. Come on guys, let's go..." Steven said sadly, preparing to leave with Zach and the girls, but only to be stopped by Kevin after he inhaled stressfully. "No, just stop. When did all of this happen?" Kevin said, demanding to know what happened. "About a few weeks ago." Steven responded calmly. "Yeah, she got angry at Steven for-" Zach began, only to stop when he saw Steven shake his head, telling him not to mention how it happened.

"Hmm...you been texting her?" Kevin then asked, wanting to know a little bit more. "Several dozen times." Steven responded. "Uh, why'd you need to-" Zach asked suspiciously, only to be cut off by Kevin. "Shut it Connors. Anyways, did the girl text you back?" He then asked Steven a third time. "Um...no...?" The young boy responded quietly. "Hmm...but she knew you'd be here." Kevin pointed out in a calm manner. "More like D-man here-" One of Darren's lackeys began, only to be elbowed in the stomach by Darren himself before he fell to the floor with pain. "Shut up, Doof." He said through his clenched teeth.

"Those girls are, like, pretty sure that a couple of guys like you would show up to see them, and I know that since I first met Darren." Cadence said, making the boys a bit jealous. "Right! Right. I'll just...head over there and calmly talk with the two girls." Zach said as he looked towards Steven with a hopeful smile. "Y-Yeah...I-I'll just go over there and talk to Connie too." Steven said as he blushed and slightly teared up on his regrets about yelling at Connie. "And tell Connie how sorry I am. I-I was a jerk to her. I-I was an absolute idiot, and I-" The young boy began as he and Zach, who tried to calm Steven down, began heading over to Connie and Rogue.

However, Kevin didn't take lightly to this and grabbed the two boys by the head. "Whoa! No no no no no no no no no." He said as he dragged the two boys away from their current path along with Darren and his goons, leaving Amethyst and Peridot on their own to do whatever they wanted at the party. "Ok, bozos, listen up, and listen good. Me or my half brother wouldn't normally be doing this, because you're a pitiful kid with snot coming out of your nose and you being an insecure teenager who's still got a crush on a girl who dumped you..." Kevin began as Steven sobbed and sniffled with Zach trying to calm him down gently.

"...But I need all of those old people to whisper my name when they die. And if you two don't pull yourselves together, you're gonna regret it. And it'll be Sabina all over again!" Kevin said threateningly while also cringing a little at the same time. "Wh-Who's...Sabina?" Steven asked while sniffling, causing Kevin's face to turn red with embarrassment and frustration. "Pff...looks like you're losing your cool there Kev." Zach snickered before getting a bonk on the head by Darren. "That's my half brother you're talking about you dumb loser." He said firmly.

"Excuthe me, but can you guyth keep it down? I'm trying to write a thtory here." One of the teens at the party, who happened to be a lone nerd writing on his computer, said to Kevin in a lot of annoyance. "Hey, shut it Nerd! Nobody was speaking to you!" Kevin spat towards the nerd in anger. "Seriously, like, who invited that kid?" Cadence asked with disgust.

"Anyway, getting back to it...you can't just dump your emotional honesty face all over them or act like you're a wimp. You're gonna freak them out or at least embarrass them." Kevin said coldly with his half brother nodding firmly. "I-I just want us to talk again. C-Connie I mean." Steven pleaded with all his heart. "He's got a point you know. Doesn't Steven deserve to talk to Connie?" Zach pointed out, standing up for his buddy. "When you put it like that, yes. But look what your girls are doing. Life's good. They're pretty much like old friends to each other. Your girl's even got a dog now." Kevin pointed out on Connie and Rogue.

"Once again, that's a fully grown lion." Zach pointed out with a grumble. "And a haircut. Although it really looks pretty." Steven said, admiring Connie's new hairstyle whilst worried about what he was being told. "Oh please...cutting your hair that short is like, totally ugly." Cadence said, mocking Connie's style much to Zach's annoyance. "Now, now, Cadence. People need to express themselves sometimes." Kevin said towards Darren's girlfriend before turning towards Steven and Zach.

"So...both of your lives are good, too. You don't need to talk to those girls either. I mean, you've got new stuff going on: New friends, a new glowing necklace, new shirts." Kevin then said, gesturing himself, Darren and his lackeys despite Zach not really considering Darren and Kevin to be his friends anymore. "Actually, Connie gave me this for my birthday." Steven explained sheepishly. "And I've had this a while." Zach added through a deadpanned expression.

Hearing this, Kevin and Darren groaned in annoyance. "Derrick! Gimme your jacket." Kevin then said as he and Darren walked over to Derrick...whoever that was. "Yeah, you too Rod!" Darren then said in demand. The two brothers wrestled with the other two teens, and boy did it look harsh in Steven's eyes.

Kevin and Darren then returned with Derrick's jacket and Rod's vest jacket. "Here, put these on." Kevin said, handing Steven the jacket. "Your friends look kind of mad though." Steven said with a lot of concern. "They're not our friends...? Put them on. Collar up." Kevin said as Steven took his jacket despite Zach not doing so. "Steven and I don't really need a jacket, and neither do-" Zach began, but was cut off when Darren grabbed his shirt. "You trying to lose a tooth, you dumb loser?! Now put the jacket on." He growled as Zach took his jacket and put it on.

"Hmm...not that cool yet." Kevin said as he turned to his half brother, who nodded. "I've got an idea." Cadence said before being lent Kevin's Scarf and the cool cap and shades of Darren's lackeys. She handed the scarf to Steven, who put it on, and the shads and cap to Zach, who put both the items on. "Nice. It's almost like you two bozos have style." Kevin said, impressed with his own handy work, and Cadence was even attracted to the two boys, until Darren stopped her from looking.

"Why do I need the scarf? It's not even cold out." Steven asked with concern. "Y-Yeah...and I'm also concerned about the cap and shades." Zach added nervously. "Well I think you two boys look fabulous, like, so handsome." Cadence said, seducing the two boys a little. "Yep, she's right you know boys. When you put on clothes like them, it's _always _cool." Kevin said with a smirk of pride. "Not when you-" Darren began, but cut off when he noticed Cadence and snapped her out of her trance.

"Now with all that said, let's go show your girls what a great time you're both having...unless of course, you don't wanna speak to them ever again?" Kevin said, trying to see what the boys would do. "Ugh...I'm totally gonna regret this." Zach groaned before he and Steven went along with Kevin's plan. In a matter of moments, Steven, Zach, Kevin, Darren and his gang began hanging out with each other, starting by drinking sugar shock shutdown drinks. Steven and Zach felt a little insecure about the whole thing and even faked smiles at Kevin, hoping that he'd buy their expressions. Connie and Rogue noticed them being with Kevin and his brother's gang and began feeling a little agitated.

The two boys were then talking with some of the other teens at the party. Steven then felt himself get roughly slapped on the back by Kevin and Zach felt his back getting slapped as well, only Darren's was a lot more rougher. Zach felt like he wasn't having a good time at all, but that didn't stop Connie and Rogue from looking over with a bit more agitation. Zach glanced over at Rogue with a worried expression in his eye, making Rogue a bit suspicious.

A few moments later, the boys and Darren's gang were talking to one of the teens in the hot tub part of the pool…also leading to Darren and Kevin ducking the teen into the water much to Steven's and Zach's worry. "_Aw yeah, things are going my way…once those two are together, Stevonnie's all mine._" The Hive Mind spoke in a whisper, letting Zach hear Kevin's dark thoughts. Zach wanted to guide Steven away and over to Rogue and Connie before this got any worse, unfortunately, the two boys were suddenly grabbed and taken to the dance floor.

Peridot took notice to this while she was riding Amethyst, as a shark, in the pool, and began to think that the two boys were in trouble. "Uh...is it me, or are Zach and Steven looking like they really doesn't want to do anything like that with those clods?" Peridot asked with concern, noticing Zach's worried expression. "Eh, I'm sure it's nothing they can't handle." Amethyst responded without even noticing what was going on.

On the dance floor, Steven and Zach seemed to be having a good time dancing, but the two boys felt pretty left out without Connie or Rogue. Zach felt like the moment was ruined when Kevin and his half brother entered the dance floor along with Cadence, who tried to flirt with the two boys. Once Zach saw Connie's and Rogue's extremely agitated expressions, he felt likt it was the last straw. "Ok...coming here was definately a bad idea..." Zach sighed as he felt his heart pumping too fast whilst the Hive Mind glowed purple.

The boys were so into dancing, nobody noticed a pair of figures on the Galaxy Residence roof. One was a fairly tall african american with a semi-built body and a black tuxedo, and the other was a stealth operative who looked pretty trigger happy. The tall figure then opened the window with merely a card, allowing him and the other figure to hop into the room without ease.

It looked to be the room of Ian Galaxy himself, mainly because there was a lot of business certificates and many other contracts. "Ugh, again with the card, Lance? Why couldn't we have blown a hole through the roof?" The stealth operative asked in annoyance. "'Cause you're too much of a trigger-happy operative, Travis." The tall agent, known as Lance responded. "I'm not that trigger happy." The stelth agent known as Travis pouted in annoyance, denying that about himself. "Now focus...we need to hack the computer before we're noticed, go keep a look out." Lance said, walking over to Ian's main computer whilst Travis got a few gizmos out for self defence.

Lance turned on the computer, searched for the top secret files and inserted a memory stick once he had found them. Whilst downloading, Lance found out names of people who had a contract with Ian Galaxy. "Woah...he's planning to sell all those gem-powered weapons to the whole world." Lance said in shock, looking at all the various people on the list. "Who'd he even wanna sell those pieces of junk to anyway?" Travis asked in confusion. "People like corrupted private security companies, the russians, the chinese, Doctor Ivo Robotnik and even...Katsu Kimura, who else?" Lance said, coming across a few known faces on the database.

"Ivo Robotnik? Who'd wanna sell weapons to that lunatic?" Travis asked, annoyed at the mention of one of the names. "He's a corrupted government whackjob, what'd you expect?" Lance pointed out before he noticed the files were downloaded. "Alright...downloaded the name files boss..." Lance said to his boss. "_Great work, Agent Sterling. Now make sure you keep the target safe at all times, understood?_" Lance's superior spoke to Lance himself. "Copy that." He said, approaching the window and staying hidden, where he saw Steven lounging on the steps of the patio with Zach and Darren's gang.

"H-Hey Steven? maybe we'd better leave before-" Zach tried to warn Steven, only for Kevin to cut him off once he noticed Connie and Rogue on their own, having glanced at the two boys briefly. "Hey bozos, you should say hi to Connie and Felicia." He said with a cool expression, making Zach worry about the outcome. "So we can tell them about how we feel?" Steven asked with high hopes. "And for the record, her name is Rogue." Zach then pointed out in annoyance.

"Her name is Felicia. And no. Be casual. You're both showing her how you two have it together. Neither of you are dying to talk to them because you're not dying at all. You're living. Make her want that life with you." Kevin said with a cool sense of pride. "_That's not how it works you jerk._" Zach growled under his breath. "What'd you say you dumb loser?" Darren asked with a growl. "Nothing..." Zach said coldly as he got up. "Kevin th-that's kind of moving." Steven said with surprise. "So get moving, Uslessverse." Darren groaned in annoyance, getting Steven to his feet roughly.

"He's got a point, so just walk over, be cool and walk away." Kevin said with pride. "Got it." Steven said as he walked over to the girls with Zach. Steven waved back towards Kevin, only to see him staring back a nonchalantly expression. However, as he walked over towards the girls with Steven, Zach immediately took off the shades, the vest jacket and the cap, getting Steven's attention and the attention of Kevin and Darren's gang. "Ok. Be cool. Be cool. Be co-wait. Zach, what are you-?" Steven begun as he noticed Zach without the cool clothes that he was given. "Steven...look. I really don't think it's a good idea to take Kevin's advice, or Darren's either." He said, finally deciding that enough was enough.

"Zach, what's wrong? You've been acting weird since we began hanging with Darren?" Steven asked with concern, still walking towards Connie and Rogue. "Look, what I mean to say is, you don't need to be like this when you speak to Connie, just-" Zach began, only to stop when the two of them reached the girls in an instant. "Hey!" Steven said, suddenly making Zach realise that he was about to talk to his ex-girlfriend once again. "Oh crud. Uh, hello, Rogue." Zach said, trying to keep calm as the two girls turned towards them. "Hi." Connie said, immediately getting up from her seat. "Sup?" Rogue said with as little wave towards Zach.

"Nice weather you're wearing...uh, I mean outfits." Steven said, trying to be cool after coughing. "Eh, thanks...not too shabby yourselves." Rogue said with approval on the boys' outfits. "_Phew...maybe he'll actually be able to work it out with Connie thanks to me getting through to him._" Zach said to himself in relief, hoping that this would work out everything. "Uhh...I got your texts." Connie said awkwardly, looking towards Lion, who nodded slightly, briefly. "Even the recent one...in which case I sent you a text saying otherwise." Rogue added sheepishly. "Oh, yeah. I forgot about those, because I've been _living_." Steven said, trying to sound cool, but unaware that he said the wrong thing all together. "Wha?" Connie asked in confusion.

"_Living?! Oh crud, nevermind._ Uh...would you girls excuse us for one second, it won't be long." Zach said awkwardly before guiding a very nervous Steven away for a brief moment. When they were halfway towards Kevin and Darren's gang, Zach and Steven stopped for a brief moment. "Ohh no. I can't believe Kevin said that to you, that advice is only for the richest and ignorant teenagers, that's not something you'd say to a friend!" Zach said with his anxiety levels peaking. "You're telling me? That was terrible! It's all wrong!" Steven responded in the same amount of anxiety.

"I have to say, those guys aren't the kind of group you'd want to be with. So Kevin can forget us being what he wants us to be." Zach said firmly, oblivious to the fact that Kevin and Darren heard the whole thing, making them furious. "Oh no...how am I gonna go back to Connie and explain this? She'll probably think I'm an idiot now." Steven groaned, thinking of the worst case scenario. "Uh, I don't think that's gonna be a problem…in a way." Zach said with a sudden gasp. "Why not?" Steven asked in a worried tone. "Because Connie's making her way over to us, and Rogue too." Zach gulped, and boy he wasn't wrong.

Connie and Rogue decided to go after the boys, even Amethyst and Peridot noticed what was happening and went over to try and calm things down. "Guys! _What_ is going on?! I came here with Rogue hoping to talk to you, Steven, but it seems like you and Zach are talking to Kevin and Darren! And I suppose they're your new friends now!" Connie said stressfully, thinking of the worst case scenario.

"Talk with Kevin?!" "They're our new friends?!" Steven and Zach yelped in unison. "There's no way I'd ever go back to Darren's gang! Besides, he's a gorilla with half a brain!" Zach said immediately, describing Darren in his own words. "Y-Yeah! And Kevin's an egotistical jerk, we both know that." Steven said, agreeing with Zach as he took off the clothes that Kevin had given him. "R-Right...anyway, I'm glad you're doing well. That's...all I-" Connie began while trying to walk away, only to be stopped by Rogue. "Come on girl, you can do this. It's just been a bit hard for everyone tonight." Rogue said encouragement for her childhood friend. "Yeah, just trust yourself and think positive." Peridot added after getting off of Amethyst and butting in.

"I promise you, Connie, it's not what you think. I never even knew that I was saying the wrong things to you. Oh man! Am I really that stupid enough to fall for Kevin's tricks?!" Steven said, groaning in embarrassment, making Connie realise that he wasn't lying. However, she noticed that Kevin and his half brother's gang were making their way towards the kids. "I was even against this from the beginning, the stupid advice, their egotistical motto, plus those guys are…" Zach began, calling out his ex-friends but stopping when he saw Connie's worried expression. "…right behind me, aren't they?" Zach finished in worry before seeing Rogue nod sheepishly.

Zach turned back to face a very angry Kevin with a furious Darren. "Oh crud..." He yelped in fright. "Oh crud indeed. And you have NO idea how long I've been wanting to do this you stupid, dumb loser!" Darren growled, yanking Zach and Steven by their shirts and pulling them towards him. "Seriously, I gave you bozos good advice and then you just throw it away?!" Kevin groaned in annoyance. "Backing out on our advice? Like, bad move!" Cadence pouted in annoyance.

"More like good move, because your advice along with Kevin's stupid advice nearly cost us a chance for Connie to talk to Steven!" Zach yelled, secretly activating the Hive Mind and using it on Kevin moments afterwards. "Oh please...I only wanted you to get back together with your girls. That was a lie, I just wanted Stevonnie so I could make my party the greatest." Kevin said, suddenly telling the truth after one of his egotistical lies and gasping in shock. "I knew it...you lying beanstalk!" Zach said as he shoved Darren away.

"Wha?! I-I didn't-Rgh! Ok so I lied a bit! So what? It's what everyone wants when they want to hook up with a girl they meet at every Kevin Party." Kevin pouted in anger towards the two boys. "Yeah! How'd you think I met Cadence you dumb loser?! My dad says that it's all about the cash, the looks and the manipulating hooks." Darren yelled in annoyance, saying the same motto as his father. "Ath uthual, Kevin and Darren are full of egotithtical lieth." The same nerd teen from before spoke with annoyance towards the Galaxy brothers. "Shut it, nerd!" Kevin shouted in anger, gaining a few people's attention.

"It's not what _we_ wanted, it's what _you've_ wanted! And all your motto means is that you cheat, cheat and cheat! So you can forget about me taking your advice!" Steven said firmly. "Oh really? You think that? Well how about this?!" Darren growled as he shoved Steven and Zach to the ground, stormed over to the girls, slapped Rogue aside and grabbed Connie by the back of her neck.

"You ruined my brother's cool, stole his race, got me and my crew arrested, denied my dad being mayor of your town, so now it's fitting... that I'm gonna ruin your girl!" Darren said, threatening to hurt Connie with his bare hands as she struggled against his grip in a panic. Steven and Zach then gasped in realisation towards Darren's words. "That's right...I know you bozos had something to do with my dad losing the election for Beach City. I had a pretty good idea that it was you after he said he met a little pork-chop." Darren said, sound like he was losing his sanity over this.

"I had to! He would've ruined my hometown, and your dad is totally the reason why my sister isn't here!" Steven said, pointing out what Ian Galaxy did. Lance was stunned by what Ian Galaxy did to Steven's twin sister and gasped in shock, almost giving away his position. "What?! Woah, ok, that sounds like dad, but D-man, don't you think hurting Connie is a bit too much?" Kevin said towards his half brother, who was about to tighten his grip on Connie's neck. "Well in dad's defence, she has it coming! Besides, I've been planning this since you invited her and the pork-chop to the party." Darren said, not hesitating to hold his grip.

"You leave Connie out of this! Just let her go and face me instead." Steven spat at Darren, demanding for him to let Connie go immediately. "Yeah, you big gorilla!" Amethyst added, helping Steven to his feet. "Why defend that stupid bookworm with no friends? Like, she's_ just_ a girl. Unlike me, there's like a millions of her type over in lame-old India." Cadence said, insulting Connie with disgust. "Not to me there's not." Steven responded, defending Connie and making her smile in realisation that he still cared about her, also summoning his shield just in case he had no other choice but to fight, right in front of Darren.

"So...it's true. You've got one of those gems..." Darren said, seeing both his prize, Steven's gemstone and his enemy, Steven Universe. "W-What? M-My gem? That's not for sale." Steven said firmly. "I don't care for money right now...I care about...crushing my enemies. Doof, Lump, get that porkchop!" Darren said to his two lackeys, causing them to charge at Steven. Zach then used the Hive Mind's powers to vault over Darren's lackeys and bonked their heads together. Even Peridot and Amethyst did the rest when they yanked the two boys into the bushes. Cadence wanted to scratch Zach with her nails, but thankfully Rogue grabbed her by coat and Connie kicked her into the pool with her leg. Boy was Cadence pouting like a baby when she saw her ruined makeup.

"Yeah, girl power!" Rogue said as Connie smiled a little. "Rgh! You did not just do that to MY girlfriend!" Darren growled as he threw Connie to the ground, hurting her badly, much to Steven's horror. "You've got this coming to you for a long time! I'll scar you for life and crush you like the puny, pathetic, helpless, lonely girl you were when you-" Darren said, sounding like a maniac as he got his knuckle duster. "LEAVE HER ALONE!" Steven shouted, suddenly turning pink, literally, and punching Darren so hard, it sent him flying back into Kevin, and knocking the two brothers over. A lot of people noticed this, and stared at Steven.

Connie also stared at Steven in disbelief as he stopped glowing pink, but Steven...was horrified. He had never hurt anyone, good or bad, before. And this was really a first for him, not to mention that the other gems would be disappointed for doing that. Zach, Rogue, Amethyst and Peridot also looked at him with shock, making him even more embarrassed than before. Without thinking, Steven turned and walked away hesitantly, thinking that he had embarrassed Connie, but never knew that nobody had paid any attention to what happened. "Steven, bro wait." Zach called to Steven. "Ste-man, you ok?" Amethyst asked in concern, but Steven ignored her completely.

Rogue helped Connie to her feet and wanted to help "Girl, we need to get you to a hospital." Rogue said with concern. "Ow...I'm ok. It's only a bruise." Connie insisted as she dusted herself off. "This'll be embarrassing. Now we're probably going to end up on social media because of those egotistical clods!" Peridot pouted in annoyance, worried about how this would affect her friends. "Oh brilliant, how are we gonna make those other people forget this happened?" Zach said in frustration, however...the Hive Mind provided the answer when it activated and shot out several beams of light at many teenagers' heads, including Darren's, his lackeys' and Cadence's. They then went back to their own business as if nothing had ever happened, whilst the lackeys and Cadence couldn't remember anything from before. "Huh...that's new." He said in surprise.

All the while, Connie noticed Steven, sadly sitting by himself after what he had done to Darren. "That was...quite irregular what Steven did. No ordinary Rose Quartz could have done that before." Peridot said, having seen Steven's strange new power for herself. "Well at least now you two can talk things out, Connie." Amethyst said with enthusiasm, hoping that Connie would finally talk with Steven without any doubts. Connie however, felt a little unsure if Steven would even talk to her after a few weeks had passed. "Actually, maybe I should leave right now." She said with a gulp. "Wait what? Connie, come on, you're not serious are you?" Amethyst exclaimed in shock.

"Did you see what he did back there? He could do the same to me if I hurt him even more." Connie pointed out stressfully. "Connie...he did save you from Darren, even though you can help yourself, right?" Zach asked, making a really good point. "Well...yes, we all did. But-" Connie began, only to be cut off by Peridot. "Then that shows that he still cares about you." She said with a calm smile. "Girl come on, you said you wanted to see him so badly yourself, right? Just give it one more shot...for me?" Rogue insisted with all her heart, allowing Connie to recall a few memories over the past few weeks.

* * *

_"I don't know why I hit him o-or say all that horrible stuff! I-I just took my anger out on him and didn't even know what I was saying either!" Connie sobbed as her parents did their very best to try and comfort her with a hug. "Connie, Connie, calm down...shh, there's a good girl." Doug said soothingly. _

_"Look...I know you care about Steven too much to hurt him. I think the problem was that you were experience one of the five stages of grief, anger." Priyanka explained to her daughter from her research on medical treatments. "W-What do you mean?" Connie asked in concern. "I'm saying that your friend's decision, to stay behind I mean, affected you in that way, meaning your anger over Nora's decision caused you to lash out at Steven without realisation." Priyanka explained carefully. "Then...what do I do to talk to him, Mom?" Connie asked gently. "Just...talk to him. I'm sure he feels the same way that you're feeling now." Priyanka insisted with a smile._

* * *

_"Look, I want to talk to him again, but I don't even know how, and I'm worried that he'll hate me." Connie admitted, feeling doubtful. But either way, Garnet understood what the young girl was going through. "Don't worry Connie...Steven doesn't hate you, you'll always be a part of his life. But to tell the truth, he hasn't been doing so good since you two fell out." Garnet said with reassuring words, but also saying how bad Steven was without her. "R-Right...is there a future where I actually DO talk to him again?" Connie asked nervously. "There is...but I can't tell you about it, because it won't happen otherwise." Garnet said in a serious tone._

* * *

_"Hey girl, what's this glow bracelet doing in your bag?" Rogue asked in confusion, holding up Connie's glowing bracelet. The young girl then saw her bracelet and rushed over to it in relief. "Finally! I've been looking all over for this." Connie said gratefully to her childhood friend. "Uh, what's so important about it?" Rogue asked in confusion. "I remember having this bracelet and then losing it...then Steven brought it back to me, so basically, it's how we both became wonderful friends." Connie explained with a smile._

* * *

Thinking about those memories and looking at the glow bracelet she wore told Connie otherwise about leaving, especially since she wanted to speak to Steven now more than ever. The gang even gave nods of encouragement to her, wanting Connie to do the right thing, in her heart. "Alright...I don't know what the consequences are...but I'll give it one more shot." Connie sighed, taking a deep breath and walking over to where Steven was. The others followed closely, not wanting to ruin the moment themselves.

All the while, Darren groaned in pain, having taken that blow from Steven, he worked his way to get up despite the difficulty. "Ow...uh, Kev? Kevin?" He asked, looking around for any sign of his half brother. "Get the heck off of me!" Kevin groaned, shoving Darren off of him before he got to his feet. "Sorry about that. Ugh! Why do I feel like I got hit in the face with a fisth?! Ugh, nevermind! Let's just get uselessverse back together with his best friend before-ohhh, she's heading to him!" Darren groaned in annoyance after noticing Connie approaching Steven gently with ease.

"Wait, wait wait. Best friend?! What are you even talking about, bro?" Kevin exclaimed in annoyance. "I dunno, that's what I heard from Maheswoozer." Darren said with a shrug. "I thought she was his ex, like Felicia is Connors' ex." Kevin then said in shock. "They haven't even started dating yet you idiot!" Darren groaned in annoyance as he helped Cadence out of the pool. "Oh brilliant, now what are we gonna do?!" Kevin asked out of anger. "You're the expert Kevin!" Darren spat back at him. "Think D-man. How do people treat their friends?" Kevin asked, stressing himself out.

Meanwhile, Steven sat on one of the lawn chairs and tried to calm down, still feeling embarrassed and sad about the scene that he caused inside. He blamed Kevin for telling him what to do, but more importantly...he blamed himself for listening to Kevin. "What was I thinking...? I never should've RSVP'd to this stupid party." Steven said sadly to himself as he looked at Lion, who gave him a sad soft moan. "Yeah...it's nice to see you too..." He then said with a weak smile before sadly sighing. "I know it's been a while, but could you take me home?" The young boy asked, having made up his mind and wanted to get up and leave, only for a small voice to speak towards him.

"Hey..." Connie said, catching Steven off guard as he saw her rubbing her arm with a weak smile. "Huh?! Oh...uh, hi." He said, nervously sitting back down. "That was...pretty cool of you to stand up for me like that..." Connie said gratefully, thankful that Steven was there to save her. "I-It's no big deal...really." Steven responded, suddenly feeling like he said the wrong thing all together, making Connie see that he was feeling like this and decided that it was better if she was there with him. "Do you...do you mind if I sit next to you?" She asked nervously. "S-Sure...go ahead." Steven said, allowing Connie to sit next to him with a bit of hesitation on looking her in the eyes.

For a while, the pair of them merely glanced at each other briefly, never speaking a word to each other, worried about saying the wrong thing could ruin their relationship forever. With Zach and Rogue, it was clear that the two of them were afraid of speaking to each other in case they did something bad to each other.

"Steven...I promise, I wasn't trying to ignore you on purpose." Connie said after a sad sigh, finally deciding to break the silence between herself and Steven. "W-What?" The young boy asked in confusion. "I said I wasn't trying to ignore you on purpose. I-I was planning on texting you back, I really was. I wanted to say_ I can't talk to anyone right now._ And yeah...it wouldn't have made sense if I said that." Connie explained, trying to keep herself from crying as she calmly looked towards Steven.

"I then thought, if we were really going to talk, then I thought it would've been best to talk in person. So I rode Lion over to your house, but there was a note that said _Gone Vacationing_. Then I thought it would've been best not to say anything to you in case I said something wrong, but when Zach and Garnet told me that you weren't doing so well without me, I knew that I was wrong. After all that, I ran into Kevin, who said you'd be here." Connie explained further, bravely speaking up

"But maybe this is still too soon for me. I-I don't even know what to say. I'm...upset? I miss you? It's all my fault? I feel like I'm going insane." Connie said with hesitation in her tone, allowing Steven to look at her. "No Connie, you're not going crazy. I tried to get us all back from homeworld after I failed to get us away, but I couldn't even do that. I had to leave Nora, my sister, behind when I really didn't want to. I can't stand to be to leave anyone behind, but then I drove you away and made us both miserable." Steven said, reassuring Connie that he was to blame.

"I don't even know why I said you couldn't handle yourself when you _can_, I mean, we've gotten through everything together. Then I compared you neglecting Nora to me neglecting everyone's feelings, and...I guess I really did deserve that punch." Steven said, sadly turning away much to Amethyst's worry. "Well...you were right. Maybe none of this would've happened if we hadn't met." He then said tearfully, saying the very thing that Connie screamed at his face a few weeks ago. Hearing this, Connie felt those words tug at her heart and tears formed in her eyes and without hesitation, the young girl gently placed her hand on Steven's hand.

"No Steven...It's my fault you're like this. I-I didn't mean to say all that stuff or hurt you, or neglect Nora like that. I wouldn't even get rid of the time we had togeather since we met. I was angry about us having to leave Nora behind, I know I didn't show it...but I was, then I completely lost it, and I ended up taking all of my anger out on you. I promised your sister that I'd look after you...and I broke my promise...you think you took it hard, well I took it the hardest." Connie said, apologising to Steven for what she had done to him.

"No Connie, it really is my fault. I heated the argument we had and I should've stopped when Zach told me to calm down, but I didn't listen to him. Oh man...I had no right to get angry at you over that." Steven said, saying that his in the wrong, but told Connie otherwise. "You had_ every_ right to get angry at me. Nora's your sister, and my close friend...and I felt like I just threw everything we had together out the window." Connie exclaimed, really insisting on taking the blame.

The two kids then calmed down with a heavy sigh that was enough to allow them to speak to each other. "What happened to us...?" Connie said with a sad but light-hearted chuckle. "Well...I guess we drove each other apart. Yeah, I know we both messed up badly..." Steven admitted calmly, rubbing his head as he spoke. "Yeah...I suppose we did..." Connie said, looking back at Steven without hesitation as he looked at her. "But no matter what the future holds for us...I can make it right with you, if you'll let me. Jam Buds?" Steven then said with a calm and confident smile despite the new tears.

"Jam buds...for life." Connie said tearfully with a smile. Without any hesitation, Steven and Connie hugged each other for the first time in weeks. The sight of the duo hugging meant that Zach and Rogue, who were standing in beside them, had succeeded in helping their friends get back together. "Aw, so sweet." Rogue and Zach said in unison. While Amethyst cheered for the two kids, Peridot looked up to the stars, making her think about Lapis. "I'm gonna make it up to you someday Lapis..." Peridot said sadly despite staying strong.

Despite feeling left out, Rogue and Zach looked at each other with a little hesitation. "Look...I know I've been a bit of a dumb loser, Rogue, but...do you think we could-" Zach began, only to get cut off by his ex. "Of course you big goof." Rogue said, hugging her ex without hesitation and accepting being Zach's girlfriend again. "Hey...don't think you two are left out." Connie said, pulling Rogue and Zach in for a well deserved hug for helping her and Steven. "See girl, what'd I tell you? It worked out in the end." Rogue said with a sweet tone.

"Thanks Rogue. Anyway, it's _so _good to finally talk to you again Steven. I've been wanting to see you so bad that Rogue and I accepted party invitations from _Kevin_." Connie said with a huge wave of relief. "So did we, though I never took it all anyway." Zach said with a light chuckle, much to Darren's anger in the distance. "Yeah. I took his advice, but I backed out thanks to Zach. And Kevin, I think he got his heart broken, i-it's actually really sad." Steven said with a chuckle. "Of course he did. That's so Kevin." Connie responded with a chuckle as well. "Yeah...remind me to punch him on the way out." Rogue said, glancing at Kevin with a stink eye.

"Noted Rogue. Hey, you're wearing the shirt I gave you, Steven." Connie said as she noticed Steven wearing her gift. "Yeah, it was the nicest thing I had to wear. Also, nice hair." Steven replied, dazzled by Connie's haircut. "Thank you. I really love it myself." The young girl replied with a giggle, feeling her short hair. "You're welcome..." Steven replied with a beating heart. "Aw, that's so sweet. You two should totally start dating together." Rogue suggested, making Connie and Steven blush in embarrassment.

"Dating? I-I mean it's a little early for that." "Dating?! Rogue, we've only began seeing each other again for the first time in...forever." The two kids insisted out of embarrassment. "So? I think you're ready for it." Rogue insisted with a small smirk. "Yo...you guys are gonna start dating?!" Amethyst exclaimed with excitement. "Well...I guess we'll give it a shot." Connie then said in agreement. "Yeah, I think we will." Steven added with pride.

Meanwhile, Kevin was watching the two kids reconcile and decide to start dating a little, Kevin and Darren saw this and looked at each other with eager. (1)"Excellent!" The two half brothers said in unison as they both imitated playing a pair of electric guitars. Kevin then grabbed a microphone and began speaking into it. "Hey, everyone, are you having fun tonight?" Kevin asked with pride as many people agreed with him in amazement...which Kevin didn't buy at all. "Liars! You're all so fake. You make me sick." Kevin exclaimed in annoyance. "And you guys make me wanna kick your butts!" Darren added in the microphone before being shoved away.

"Yes, thank you for that D-Man. But get ready. I'm gonna introduce you to somebody _so_ real you'll all feel as sick as the two of us!" Kevin said, showing off as usual. "So much that you'll be throwing up in the morning." Darren added once more with a snicker. "In other words, the party starts now! Children! Go!" Kevin said, pointing towards Steven and Connie without hesitation.

Steven and Connie on the other hand, didn't seem overally interested in satisfying Kevin, in fact they never were as usual. "Gonna do it?" Steven asked with a smile, knowing Connie's answer. "Nope." She replied with a smile. "Me neither." Steven said he sent Lion home. Normally it would've been logical to ride Lion home, but Steven thought that it would've been better to take Zach's quad bike instead. "It's pretty late, I think we're gonna head out." Connie said with a calm smile. "Yeah, besides, this isn't my kind of party anyway." Zach said with a firm nod. "Thanks for inviting us Kevin." Steven said politely.

All of this had shocked Kevin and angered Darren. "Wha...?" Kevin said as he dropped his microphone in shock as he walked over to the kids. "Are you going back on our deal here?!" Darren said, strangely not remembering attacking Connie moments ago. "Y-Yeah, You guys have got to do the thing!" Kevin added as he reached the gang along with Darren and his gang. "Wow...you guys are like, so rude!" Cadence exclaimed with disappointment. "Y-Yeah! What the heck did I help you for if you're not gonna elevate my party?" Kevin asked in anger, only for the gang to walk by him and Darren without hesitation.

"Wha...?! Hey! Don't you brats walk away from-" Kevin began, grabbing Rogue's arm, but only to be punched in the nose by Connie and Rogue, who caused him to fall into his pool backwards. Kevin then emerged from the surface of the water with a bruised nose before hearing a bit of laughter. "Shut up, Derrick! And you too Nerd!" Kevin growled in anger. "H-Hey! What'd I do?!" The nerd asked in confusion. "Aw yeah! Girls rule, boys drool!" Rogue said, high-fiving Connie, feeling so pumped. "No offense you guys." Connie said sheepishly as she faced Steven and Zach. "None taken." Steven said sweetly as he took her hand. "Oh, if it helps Kevin, I think you threw a really nice party." Connie said, complementing Kevin's party. "It's fairly ok..." Zach said sheepishly.

"You think you brats can get away with this, well guess again, 'cause nobody makes fools otta the Gala-" Darren started, only to spot someone looking at the scene from his father's room. "H-Hey! Someone's broken into our house!" Darren yelped in panic, pointing to the open window where Travis and Lance were. "Oh shoot, we've been spotted! Aboard. ABOARD!" Lance yelped as he and Lance packed it all up and escaped, right before Darren and his goons came crashing into the room.

At the same time, the gang was leaving the party. "Good night everyone." Steven said as they cheered and clapped at the gang, who were making their way out front. "Hey Zach, do you think Darren's father's gonna know about this?" Steven then asked in concern. "Hopefully we'll be outta here by the time their dad gets home." Zach said with reassurance before the worst scenario happened to him. "Hey! who's bee-yn throwin' a shin-dig at maah home while ah was away?!" A familiar voice suddenly bellowed from the front of the house, revealling to be none other than Ian Galaxy himself. "Oh crud! Hide!" Zach yelped as he grabbed Rogue and hid behind a plant with Connie and Steven.

"We've gotta get going now." Zach said as he saw Ian scolding his oldest son for throwing his party without his father's permission. "Ah warned ya Kevin, and y'all go behind mah back and threw it anyway!" He said in anger, yanking Kevin out of the pool. "But Dad, I just wanted to-" Kevin tried to argue, only to be cut off. "Stop arguin' an git shed awf those theyer teenagers." Ian insisted with a growl, sounding like he had a really bad day.

"Uh, is that guy...?" Connie began, recognising something about the person. "Yep, Darren's and Kevin's father. We've gotta go now!" Zach said before leading his friends safely outside to the front. "No! Wait! What about my party?!" Kevin exclaimed in panic, begging for the gang to stay for him while revealing their location. "Technically, nobody cares about your party you clod!" Peridot pointed out as she slammed the gate without hesitation causing Kevin to growl in frustration and misery. "Get back here you little backstabbers!" Darren growled as he joined his brother.

* * *

Out the front of the house

Steven and the gang rushed for Zach's quad bike, only to find that it was broken. "Oh brilliant, they busted my ride. Now how are we gonna get outta here?!" Zach asked in panic. "We take Kevin's ride instead." Rogue suggested, pulling out the keys to Kevin's car, whom she had managed to steal off of when she punched him. Without any other choice, the gang got to Kevin's car, threw Zach's bike in front of the spoiler, somehow, and got into the car as they tried starting it up. It was possbily going to be difficult as Steven had to let Connie sit on his lap, but he was ok with it. The car then started up and Rogue was ready to drive off.

"You guys ready?" Rogue asked rhetorically much to Zach's worry. "Rogue...you know I trust you...but this is crazy!" Zach yelped as Rogue shifted the car into gear and slammed her foot onto the gas pedal, thus driving off just as Ian, his goons and his two boys came out to the front. "HEY! THAT'S MY CAR!" Kevin yelled in shock as he saw Amethyst and Peridot mocking them. "Ohohohoo boy! Looks like thuh chase is awn!" Ian shouted like a maniac as he and his goons rushed to his six-wheeled hummer and chased the gang without hesitation. Even Kevin, Darren and his gang went with him in Darren's modified sports truck as well, because they wanted to take their anger out on Steven.

All the while, Rogue drew Kevin's car out of the estate and onto the main road at night. "Woo! Man it feels so good to see you again Zach." Rogue said with amazement as she drove Kevin's car with eagerness. "Y-Yeah...same with you, but not the way I thought." Zach said sheepishly. All the while, Steven and Connie tried getting comfortable on their seat, but were having difficulties. "Sorry if this is too uncomfortable..." Steven said sheepishly. "It's fine...really." Connie replied, leaning against the car door.

"Hey you guys, we've got company!" Amethyst called to the gang out of panic, pointing to the pursuers, who were Ian Galaxy and his boys, behind them. "Seriously...doesn't that old dude ever give up?" Zach asked with shock as he saw Ian's crazy and determined expression. "Ah done told ya ah'd be back t' git ya." He said, looking Zach in the eye. "Hang on to your underwear boys! Woohoo!" Rogue squealed in excitement, shifting the car into high gear and zooming down the motorway.

Ian and his goons also sped up, finally deciding to take action against Steven since his failed election along with Kevin and Darren, who wanted to make sure the young boy suffered. "Put some music awn, what do ya idiots thihnk this is a funeral?!" Ian said in annoyance, allowing one of his goons to activate the radio, putting on a heavy metal kind of cowboy music.

Along the road, Rogue dodged every vehicle that were in front of herself and the gang. Ian on the other hand, didn't care for any traffic that was in his way, he had his goons plough on through the traffic whilst he opened the roof hatch of his hummer and got out his gem powered gun. "Ian, as your lawyer, I'm begging you to reconsider your decisions before you do something that you'll regret for the rest of your life." Robbie insisted with fear. "Ok. Ah'll reconsider 'em. Raahyt after ah blow thuh pork chop sky high." Ian said, cocking his gun and aiming it towards Kevin's car.

Ian missed the first couple of times and the fourth shot hit Kevin's door, denting it and ruining the paintjob. "HEY! THAT'S MY CAR!" Kevin yelled in horror. "Kay-yun't ya jus' paint it again?" Ian suggested to his son, only resulting in him getting frustrated. "Forget about it bro, for now...we've got other matters to deal with!" Darren said to Kevin as he pulled up beside his half brother's car, opened the back door to the truck and opened up car door where Steven and Connie were.

Darren then grabbed Connie, who tried to resist, but ended up being pulled into the back seat of the truck, causing her to scream in panic. "CONNIE!" Steven yelped, worried about the time when Topaz kidnapped her before a look of determinwtion grew on his face. "I'm not losing her again! I've gotta help her!" He said, jumping onto the roof of the car. "He's right. Here, Z-man, take the wheel." Rogue said as she and Steven left Zach to drive Kevin's car by himself. "No no no no no, I don't know how to drive!" Zach insisted, really uncomfortable about driving the car.

"You've got a few licences, right? Try and use one of them." Steven stated with a good point as he helped Rogue onto the roof of the car. "None of them are for driving modified sports cars!" Zach cried out with worry. Not even Amethyst or Peridot were with him either, mainly because they were keeping the goons on bikes busy by fighting them all.

Inside, Doof and Lump tried to tie Connie up, but because of all the struggling, it was difficult. "Get off me!" She yelled, fighting against the lackeys. "Rgh! Why are you being so difficult? No wait...you're pathetic." Darren growled as he tried to make sure his lackeys had her restrained...only to be met with a kick in the head by the young girl. "Don't call me...Pathetic!" Connie growled, shoving Darren towards his lackeys and climbing onto the truck's roof through the open window in the back. She then turned to face Steven, who had a stunned look on his face. "See? I told you I can handle myself." Connie chuckled nervously, bringing up something she argued about a few weeks ago.

"Er...remind me never to make her angry again." Steven requested nervously to Rogue, having seen what happened in the truck. "Noted." The Red-Haired girl said with amazement towards Connie. "Hey get back here!" Darren said, trying to reach Connie, but had trouble getting out the window and reaching her. Rogue had an idea and whispered it to Peridot in an instant before telling Steven the plan before he turned to Connie. "Connie, you're going to have to jump!" Steven then said, getting the young girl to look down in shock."Jump?! As in off a truck on the highway?! Steven are you crazy?" Connie gasped in shock, thinking that Steven was trying to get her killed.

"I promise, I'll catch you." Steven insisted as Darren was on the verge of reaching Connie. Without hesitation, Connie jumped from Kevin's spare sports car and into Steven's arms, she nearly fell if Peridot hadn't had used her metal boomerang to give the young girl a bir of a boost where she nearly fell. Boy was it just in time too, as Kevin lost control of Darren's truck and span out, thus crashing into a Police Cruiser. "You caught me...you rescued me...thank you so much." Connie said in disbelief with a blush, hugging Steven. "Heh...it's no problem." Steven responded with a blush.

"Ugh, trust maah own boys ta git those theyer brats! speed uhp ya idiots!" Ian groaned before getting his goon to accelerate. "Uh, I hate to brake up your moment lovebirds, but we've got incoming!" Amethyst said, pointing to Ian and the remaining goons that he had left. All the while, Zach panicked, trying to find some way to make the car go faster. "Come on, come on come on...there's gotta be a turbo boost on this thing." He said, struggling to find a turbo button, however he did come across a button on the gear stick. "_That looks like a turbo button._" Zach then thought in his mind before pressing the button.

Immediately, the car went faster, leaving Ian's vehicle far behind. "Aw yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Amethyst said in absolute awe as she helped Rogue and Connie back into the car through the sun roof. "So that's how Kevin was able to beat us!" Connie said in shock, seeing that Kevin was able to cheat during his race with Stevonnie. "Kevin'll do almost anything get his way. Still, that guy's got some nerve!" Zach pointed out in annoyance.

"Yeah...still, at least we left those guys far behind." Rogue said with relief. But she must've spoken too soon, because the next thing she knew, the car was suddenly jolted from the back causing Steven to look out the window and See Ian, brutally smashing the back of his son's car without hesitation and with a crazy look on his face. "Uh...maybe that was too soon, Fel-uh, Rogue." Steven said sheepishly. Ian then moved to the car's left and slammed it into the barriers, causing Steven to fall out along with the right door. "STEVEN!" Connie yelled as she watched her friend fall onto the road behind, thankfully not being hit by any cars.

Zach wanted to go back for him, but couldn't because of Ian crazily chasing him. "Time for you kids to cash in!" The cowboy then said as he bumped the car's left side, causing it to spin out of control, no matter how hard Zach or Peridot tried to control it. The car suddenly flipped on it's side, sending it flying up into the air and back towards the road. The gang were panicking and Peridot tried to lift the car with her ferrokinesis, but failed. "Oh crud!" Zach yelped, holding Connie to make sure she didn't get hurt. "Brace for impact!" Rogue yelped as she prepared for the worst.

However...it was a few moments before the gang noticed that they didn't crash, not did anyone get hurt. Confused by this, Peridot, Rogue and Connie looked around to see why they didn't crash, and soon enough, it was right in front of them. In front of the car, a dark figure with yellow glowing eyes, a dark red cape and a strange hairstyle, held the car with her giant hands to make sure it didn't crash, or rather...the figure was already floating in the air to prevent that from happening.

All the while, Ian and his goons were stunned to see the figure in front. "What in the blazes...?" The cowboy businessman said in disbelief as he got out of his vehicle. The figure placed the car back onto the road gently before walking over to the passenger door. "Are you alright?" They asked in concern, sounding female. "Y-Yes...thanks...whoever you are." Connie said in relief. "It's not a problem, Connie." The figure spoke with a light chuckle. "Wait...how do you know my-" Connie began, but was suddenly cut off when Ian pulled out his gun.

"Freeze! Put those theyer meathooks uhp!" He called out, gaining the gang's frightened attention as well as Peridot's and Amethyst's. "Uh boss, maybe this mightn't be the best of-" Robbie began, but was cut off by his own boss."Shut it, Robbie, this is our ownlee chahns ta git those theyer gems." Ian said, getting his gun out and preparing to fire at Peridot and Amethyst.

However, the figure heard what he was saying and suddenly zoomed over towards Ian with a creepy angered expression. "DON'T! You dare...hurt them." She said, narrowing her eyes as she shot lasers from them and destroyed the gem-powered gun. She then made her hands glow an orange polygonal kind of energy, threatening to use it on the goons just in case. "Make your move...I dare you." She then spoke darkly, scaring Ian's goons and even Robbie, causing them to flee. Soon enough, Ian ran away from the figure too, allowing the figure to calm down. "Wise decision." She said with a smile.

The figure then teleported back to the gang. It was then that, Despite the dark atmosphere, Connie, Amethyst and Peridot could make out a familiar object on the figure's forehead. That object resembled a small diamond, one small like...Purity's. "Wait, P-Purity is that you?" Amethyst asked in confusion and amazement. "Indeed...and Steven is here too." The figure spoke, revealing to be a fusion of Steven and Purity Diamond, but strangely not showing Steven's gem. "Oh thank goodness. Steven, I'm glad you're ok." Connie said, hugging the fusion's hand as she rubbed Connie's back.

"YES! FINALLY, THE MOST POWERFUL FUSION WHO CAN TAKE ON A DIAMOND!" Peridot said in absolute amazement and awe towards the fusion, only to be responded by everyone, who looked at her in annoyance. "Oh, sorry...I got ahead of myself." Peridot then said sheepishly as she turned away. "Dude, what the heck happened after you fell out of the car?" Amethyst then asked in amazement.

"Well, Purity was searching around for any signs of homeworld gems when found Steven on the road, then he said that he needed my help to save you all, and she gladly helped out." The fusion said, explaing what happened when Steven after he fell out of the car. "Oh right, well thanks for the help miss. Now, is it too much to ask for you to get us back to Beach City?" Rogue said gratefully. "You're quite right. Let's get you home." The fusion spoke, allowing everyone in Kevin's car to buckle up.

The fusion then took ahold of Kevin's car and flew into the air with it. "Er, isn't the car too heavy for you to lift?" Peridot asked in concern before being answered by a shake from the fusion's head. "Hey...uh, Steven. If you're in there, would it be ok if I stayed at your place for a while?" Connie then asked, sheepishly gathering enough courage to speak to the fusion. "Why would you want to?" The fusion asked in confusion.

"Well, it's not only about my parents being out of town for a while, but Ian's going to come after us, so we have to lay low for a while." Connie explained, making a good point. If Ian was still out there, then he'd be coming for her, and possibly Zach and Rogue too. "Fair point." The fusion said, flying back to Beach City as the duo saw the bright moon shining in the sky. Meanwhile, Lance and Travis were enroute to catch up with the flying fusion and her companions. "Wow...there's something you don't see everyday." Travis said in amazement. "To everyone else yes, but not to us." Lance spoke firmly as he followed the fusion.

* * *

Back in Beach City

Fish Stew Pizza

Lion was waiting for Steven and the gang to come back, but he was also looking inside Fish Stew Pizza, directly at the television where Lars, Sadie and the Killers, were watching the news. In fact, Nanefua and Mayor Dewey were watching as well. He was just giving a brief demonstration about what to do in case of a gem attack before the special report came on.

_"This is breaking news." _The anchorman said as Lars and Sadie's band looked at the television in confusion. _"Good Evening, my name is Tony Stars and here's the update for tonight: A traffic collison occured around an hour ago when a raging set of vehicles were racing across the highway. Witnesses say that one of the drivers was claimed to be an irresponsible young adult who crashed into a police cruiser. The other drivers were never found and strangely left their cars in a hurry near the motorway's exit. We now go live to Charlie Colt to see the problem, Charles, if you please?" The anchorman explained on the news before going live with the scene of the crash._

_"Tony, I'm live at the scene where I've just discovered that the driver of the vehicle is none other than, the son of Ian Galaxy, was revealed to be driving the car and attempted to kidnap an innocent girl whilst driving." The reporter said as the Police apprehended Darren and his goons, who had a lot of injuries, and dragged them into the police cars. "IT WASN'T ME! IT WAS THE DUMB LOSER THOSE FREAKS WHO FRAMED ME!" Darren pleaded in anger before the door was slammed on him, leading to the reporter going towards Kevin, who looked pretty hurt when the car crashed. _

_"It's unknown what drove the young juvinile to a road rage, but he will be brought in for questioning. Now, Kevin Galaxy, you and your brother have been accused of trying to kidnap a young girl, do you have anything you'd like to share with the public?" The reporter asked, putting his Microphone towards Kevin who glared into the camera. "I'm officially done with Stevonnie!" He said before he too was taken into the police car. "Well...I don't know what to make of that, but officers say that they were unable to locate the yellow vehicle or whoever was onboard. Back to you in-"_

Lars then turned off the television. "Heh, guess Kevin got what he deserved after everything he's done." Jenny said, glad that Kevin got what he deserved along with Sour Cream and Buck. However Lars thought about what Darren had just said and looked at Sadie in confusion. "Dumb loser? Isn't that what Darren used to call Zach?" Sadie asked from what she heard from Zach. "Usually...But maybe this doesn't have anything to do with my cousin. I mean, it couldn't have..." Lars said, denying that Zach had any part in what happened.

"Woah...Lars, you'd better come see this." Ronaldo said, having stared at the window for a few moments. "Yeah, I know. That pink lion's been out there for a while now." Lars said in annoyance. "N-No...I mean _that_." Ronaldo then said, pointing towards the sky with awe. Lars then looked, and saw something that he'd not expect in a million years: Kevin's car was being held by a flying figure, who landed on the beach. "Dang...that's awesome." Lars said in amazement. "It's...Excelsiora..." Ronaldo said, dreaming up another one of his fantasies as per usual.

The two boys then saw the fusion set down Kevin's car before unfusing back to Steven and Purity. Connie then rushed out and immediately hugged Steven without any hesitation and Rogue and Zach stepped out too. "Ok, maybe Zach did have somethingto do with what happened." Lars groaned in annoyance. Outside, Steven and the gang, apart from Purity, were having a bit of a laugh before walking back to Steven's place. "That was the best flight that I've ever been on in my life." Zach admitted with amazement.

"I know! I mean...everything I've hear, is real. The strange people with gemstones, Steven and even that blue thing that Zach found." Rogue said in awe, hugging her ex-, now possibly recovered, boyfriend. "Yo, you'd better believe it Felicia. We're real as it gets." Amethyst said with her cool tone. "I've been on adventures with the gems since I was 13." Steven explained with his cheerful tone. "Yeah, there's more of us. There's Garnet, Pearl, Bismuth, Peridot here, Topaz, oh man, I could go on forever." Amethyst explained, getting Rogue overly excited about being right.

"Woah...this confirms my theories...there are heroes from another world who saved our planet!" Rogue said as Zach tried to calm her down. "Indeed it's true. But if I may ask, why were you all so reckless enough to steal someone's car and then nearly get yourselves killed?" Purity asked in disappointement towards Steven and his friends as Lion came up to them, looking at them in disappointment. "Well, my bike was broken and we sent Lion home, so...there wasn't really much of a choice." Zach admitted sheepishly as he looked at his friends, who had the same nervous look as he did.

"Hmm...perhaps. However, this won't go unnoticed. I will be speaking to Pearl and Garnet about the matter soon." Purity then said firmly before teleporting off. "Dude...she just-" Rogue said, seeing the omni-diamond teleporting all of a sudden. "Disappeared? Yeah...she does that a lot." Steven said sheepishly, not mentioning that he had been scared whenever she teleported near him.

Lion then guided the gang back to the temple without hesitation. "So...how do you know Connie and Zach, Rogue?" Steven asked, looking at Connie's old friend. "I've been her childhood friend, like forever. We once solved a mystery in Ireland and got a lot of Candy. Then Zach, I started dating him in middle school when I was 12, then we broke up because of Darren." Rogue explained to Steven. "Wait, dating?! I thought Nora was your girlfriend Zach?" Steven said in surprise.

"What? Oh no. Nora's got her own crush...and I won't say who. Anyway...it's true. Rogue and I used to date, and might still happen now that I'm done with Darren." Zach said, figuring what he said was true. The gang suddenly noticed a couple of cars parked on the beach outside of Steven's home. Worried about this, Steven rushed up to his home with Connie following him in concern. Through the window of his door, Steven could see the gems arguing with a three men in suits, who were searching the place, and it seemed to be something serious.

_"I told you, we can handle this!" _Garnet said firmly to Lance. _"And it doesn't give you the right to come here and call us out for bad deeds."_ Pearl added with a cross attitude in her tone. _"__And yet you've caused several noticable events to happen. You said you had everything under control." _One of the men, a man in his late 40s. "_We're under orders from Director Barak Wrath to secure the area to make sure nothing bad happens. Sheesh, what've you been doing all this time?_" Travis said in annoyance before walking away.

Steven and the others watched in secret, worried about what was going on, until... "HIYA GEORGIE!" Travis said, suddenly peeping around the corner of the door without warning and scaring the kids. He laughed at this but soon gained everyone's attention. "Ugh, took them long enough. Travis, bring them in." Lance ordered, getting Travis to bring in Steven and Connie by their shirts. Amethyst and Peridot tried to help them immediately without warning. "Yo! Hands of my Ste-man you dirt bags!"She said, trying to summon her whip but was suddenly stopped in midair.

"Make a move like that again and I'll smash you to pieces." The voice of a teenage girl said threateningly, coming out from the shadows to reveal herself as a teenage girl with blue eyes and long blonde hair who wore a pair of goggles on her forehead, a black crop top which showed her midriff with a yellow T on it, yellow shorts with a brown belt with a couple of bags on it. Her hands also seemed to be glowing yellow at the same time when Amethyst was in the air. "Terra, that's enough. Let her go." Lance ordered firmly. "Understood." The girl, called Terra, said as she released Amethyst.

"Uh, who the heck are you guys? And what are you doing here?" Zach asked as he and Rogue came in. "You're with the government, aren't you? Coming here without warning and doing what you can to cover up stuff." Rogue assumed, judging from the suits that the men were wearing. "Something like that...only, we've been monitoring Beach City for four decades now, noting any alien activities." The older gentleman explained to the two teens. "H-How do you know the gems?" Steven asked in confusion and concern. "We first discovered their existence in the 80s and made contact with them." Lance explained, pulling up a screen which showed a picture from the 80s of a pack of agents making Contact with the Crystal Gems.

The picture contained Rose Quartz too, stating that they must have known her. "And with that...you must be Steven Universe, one of Rose Quartz's little tykes, right?" Travis asked, shaking Steven's hand despite the young boy being nervous. "Y-Yeah...wait, who are you anyway?" Steven asked in confusion. "Well Steven, these are-" Pearl began, but was cut off by the late 40s agent. "I'm Agent Michael Thompson. I believe you've already met Agents Lance Sterling, Travis Potts and Tara Markov." He said, revealing his name and the other agents' names to the young boy.

"Believe me, you're not the only kind of unusual activity out there." Travis said with a grin of excitement. "What do you mean?" Connie asked in confusion. "Well lemme see, there's the blue devil. Which was sighted in Green Hills, Montana. A lightning storm happened when there were no thunderclouds. A crazy old guy in a campler claims to have seen a blue rodent called the (2)blue devil. Then another incident, well several of them, have happened up in near Los Angeles. A pack of monsters have been fighting a young girl with some kind of crazy wand and...well you get the picture. And in the recent years, we found a giant robot who-" Travis began, only to be cut off by Lance.

"In any case, we're also here to take you in for your own good, boy." Lance said firmly, trying to take Steven, only for the young boy to jerk away. "Please! You can't do this!" Steven pleaded in panic as he was held back by Zach and Amethyst. "You clods can't do this! You don't even know what's coming!" Peridot pointed out angrily. "We can handle this Agent Sterling, you need to trust us on this one." Garnet said firmly, only to see the agent turn towards her with a cold glare look upon his face. "The last time I trusted someone...I ended up with this scar to remind me...you _can't_ count on _anyone_." Agent Sterling said, revealing a painful scar on his neck.

At that moment, a device on Michael's belt began bleeping. "Lance, heads up. It's the boss." He said, gaining Lance's attention, causing the slim agent to groan. "Activate the call." He said, allowing Michael to activate the call. The device then activated, showing a holographic image of a tall, intimidating african american man with black shades and a pretty serious look on him. "_Greetings..._" The man said, looking down at Steven with a firm look on his face, making the young boy uneasy. "Uh, hi?" Steven then responded nervously, waving at the man without any hesitation.

"Look, I don't know who you clods are or what your deal is, but-" Peridot began, only to be cut off by the man. "_We are the agents of G.U.A.R.D. The Governmental Undercover Agents Restoring Defence, dedicated to fighting off dangerous threats from our world, even saving our own planet from destruction._" The man spoke, saying who he and the other agents represented. "Oh, right. That's good to know." Steven said in relief. "Then...who are you?" Connie asked as the man looked towards her firmly. "_Barak Wrath, the Director of G.U.A.R.D._" He said, revealing his name.

"Pleasure to meet you. M-My name's-" Steven began, only to be cut off by the Director. "_Steven 'Quartz' Universe. Born August 15th 2000. Contains a gemstone from his mother within his navel._" He said, a little bluntly towards Steven. "Y-Yeah...it's all I have left of her." The young boy said sheepishly before Barak turned towards Connie in an instant. "_Cornelia 'Lucy' Maheswaran. Born November 2001. Originally a lonely little girl and now a brave and tenacious girl._" Barak then said, embarrassing Connie a slight bit. "Your middle name's Lucy?" Steven asked in surprise, only resulting in Connie blushing even more.

"_Zachary 'Edward' Connors. Born Febuary 5th 2000. Father owns a large eco company and rivals Galaxy Corperations._" Barak said after turning towards Zach, making Steven look at him in confusion. "Y-Yeah...I don't like talking about it to be honest." Zach admitted as the Hive Mind glowed purple. "_Felicia 'Marie' Games, born October 8th 2000. Has a reputation as a detective at the best of times._" Barak said after turning towards Rogue. "Ok, A: It's Rogue, and B: How do you know me like that?" Rogue asked in confusion. "They know everything, believe me it was hard for Rose to understand as well." Garnet explained.

_"I've also gotten word that you've been dealing with a few of these events with your family, right Steven?"_ Barak asked as he leaned in closer at Steven. "Yeah. I mean it's not much of course, but why do you ask?" Steven said in confusion. "Ugh, please tell me this isn't about that stupid _Liberators_ thing that you wanted Rose to join back then." Amethyst groaned in annoyance, but attracting Steven's attention out of his own curiosity. "It is, unfortunately to you. But that being said anyway, we'll be in contact about it soon. For now, we've got other matters to attend to, Agent Sterling if you wouldn't mind wrapping it up?" Barak said before turning to Lance, who was stunned by his superior's words.

"S-Sir? I don't understand. I though we were to-?" Lance stuttered in disbelief. "That's enough, Agent Sterling. Finish up your argument and pack it up." The director then said firmly as he terminated the call. "But I-Yes sir." Lance grumbled before storming outside. Soon enough, Travis and the other agents began leaving as well. "We'll be keeping an eye on you for a while, so expect us when you hear from us. And if you make up your mind early, give us a call." Michael said, being the last to leave Steven's home after handing him a contact card. "And just so you know, you guys rock, litterally." Terra said with a wink before leaving everyone. "S-So...how was the party, Steven?" Pearl asked nervously, making the situation more awkward.

* * *

Later on the road out of Beach City

Lance was arguing with his superior and teammates about Steven and the gems. "_-he's not dangerous Lance._" Director Wrath spoke firmly. "With all due respect, Director, why did you want us to let that kid go?! He should be sent to Area 51 along with those aliens, why can't we do that?!" Lance asked in frustration. "_You know fully well that it's not what our division does, Lance. It's our job to study what we know about certain occurances and learn more about how to save lives on Earth._" Barak explained to Lance firmly. "He's kinda got a point you know, Lance. Did you see the little pork chop? He's too cute to be thrown into Area 51." Travis pointed out in annoyance.

"Lance, you of all agents should know better than to just get rid of aliens. So please...just trust the director on this one, please?" Terra added with worry for Steven and everyone who knew him. "Alright, alright. Fine. Understood, Director...but I still don't see how that kid can prevent the world from being destroyed when he's only got a gemstone that's lower than those other powerful beings?" Lance said after a heavy sigh, finally giving up on his vivid thoughts to take Steven away. "There's more to the kid than you might think about him." Michael said, showing a screen of Steven's gem, though something was strangely off about it.

"_Well spoken there Michael. The world also needs heroes like him, to protect us from threats from anywhere, such as from other worlds, universes, you name it._" Barak pointed out, and possibly making a really good point too. "_Now tell me Lance...what can you tell me about **The Liberators Initiative**?_" Barak asked, pulling up a document that was written by Lance himself, making the agent look away briefly.

* * *

Later that night

At Steven's Home

Connie, like Steven promised her, was allowed to stay for a while at his place. Yes her mother would have scolded her, but she had no other options. She had just changed for bed along with Steven, Zach and Rogue. "Thanks so much for letting me stay for a while Steven. It really means a lot." Connie said gratefully, sitting on Steven's bed. "It's no problem...really." Steven said with a blush as Zach came up the stairs, holding his ear in pain with Rogue following him.

Lars also caught up with Zach and gave him a bit of a scolding and even yanked him by the ear too, saying that he had some nerve doing it. However, Rogue explained what the situation was and Lars sheepishly apologised. "So...what have you two been talking about?" Zach asked with a smile as he laid on the sleepingbag that Steven had given him. "Not much." Steven sheepishly responded. "Eh, fair enough." Zach said as he set the Hive Mind to his left.

Seeing the blue jewel, Steven decided to ask something he never thought he'd ask for a while. "I've been meaning to ask you, Zach. How come you haven't told the other gems about that thing?" He asked, allowing Zach to look back at the Hive Mind once more. "Well, I just assumed that everyone of those aliens use something like this, so I thought that maybe I should hang onto it and look at it just in case." The 15-year old said despite not knowing himself.

"Well...you're gonna have to tell them sometime soon." Rogue said firmly. This made Zach incredibly uncomfortable, mainly because he didn't know what he was going to tell the gems himself. All of the thoughts went away when his girlfriend changed the subject. "So, it's definately a date then?" Rogue asked, trying her best to hide a grin on her face. "Yep, it'll take a few days to plan the whole thing over, but we'll get there." Connie said, ready to finally go on a date, despite what her own parents would think about it of course. "Yeah...the first dates are usually the hardest, but as long as you get a smooch on the lips, it'll be fine." Rogue said,

"Ew, Rogue! Heheheh." Connie playfully giggled disgust. "What? I'm just saying girl." Rogue said, giggling herself. "Well...this is getting too wierd, I'm gonna conk out." Zach said as he fell asleep all of a sudden. Rogue then decided to turn in for the night as well, leaving Steven and Connie to be the only ones awake, seeing as how neither of them were tired just yet. "So...was it lonely?" Connie asked, confusing Steven a little. "I mean, when we never saw each other for the few weeks?" She then said in a bit more detail.

"Y-Yeah...it was. Without you...or Nora." Steven admitted, not having the strength to deny it. "Hmm…figures. Also, I just wanted to say that it was a bit insulting when you said I couldn't handle myself." Connie admitted firmly when she and Steven hurt each other's feelings a few weeks ago. "I know…and I know you can handle yourself. I guess I said it because of the thought of you getting hurt, going missing or even dying because of me." Steven admitted, showing that he cared about Connie's wellbeing. "Hey...I'm still here...alive and otherwise, right?" Connie said with a slight smile.

"You're right...we've gotten through everything and survived it all, and you're still here after everything." Steven said with a calm smile. "Heheh, yep. And if it helps, I think that punch you gave Darren really shows that you have a heart to defend anyone." Connie said, recalling that new power Steven earned. "T-Thanks…I dunno where that came from, but thanks." Steven said, a little curious about his newfound power but shrugged it off after a few moments.

"You're welcome. Well, I think we'd better get some shuteye. I want to see Nora tomorrow." Connie then said, finally drifting off alongside Steven after a yawn. After the two of them fell asleep, Connie decided to snuggle in beside Steven, feeling more comfortable being back with him now more than ever. "Steven…I'm glad we met. You're the sweet boy that's ever helped me get better and...I think I like you very much." She said quietly to herself. Then with a little bit of courage, Connie kissed Steven's cheek before sleeping.

* * *

Meanwhile...

At Planet Z Moonbase

Black Diamond had given an audience to Pyrope, Demantoid and Emerald, who told her about the rumors on Off Colors making fools of them at the Cosmic Jubilee after they argued amongst themselves for a fortnight. "It's an outrage I tell you! Those pathetic waste of gems ruined everything at the Jubilee!" Pyrope exclaimed in disgust. "They even stole my personal shuttle and crashed it!" Emerald exclaimed in anger.

"Oh you are joking me..." Hessonite said in annoyance. "How is this possible?! All Off Colors on the surface of Homeworld or any other colony is forbidden!" Eyeball said in shock. "And you're certain that there was no sign of a Topaz fusion?" Aquamarine asked with a twitching eye. "N-No...there was no Topaz there. Why do you ask?" Pyrope asked in concern, only resulting in Aquamarine growling.

"I swear...you imbiciles had better have a good reason for allowing those Off-Colors to make a pack of fools out of you!" Noir demanded, clenching her fist and teeth in anger. "And make it fast. My Diamond is not a patient one." Noir's Pearl spoke. Being her new pearl after the Trial, this one had all the features of a Pearl, only this one had lilac skin and violet colored hair which was styled into a bun. Her eyes were more slant than the other pearls and, like Pearl from the Crystal Gems, her gemstone was located on her forehead and was a dark purple cabochon kind of pearl.

"Forgive me for being so blunt. Now, we would have noticed sooner, but Pyrope and Emerald were stupid enough because they allowed a pink-haired girl, a Rutile that came out wrong, two purposeless fusions and a Sapphire who can predict the past. Then five days ago, we discovered that the band off gems rescued two gems who went against their purposes right before they were shattered." Demantoid said, pointing out the flaws of Emerald and Pyrope, much to their annoyance. "It's been madness ever since those gems appeared!" Pyrope exclaimed out of fear.

"Hold on...A Pink-Haired girl?" Noir asked in suspicion, feeling like she had seen someone like that before. "Yes. She was able to disguise herself as Imperial Officer Roselite. She also called herself...Nora Starr. I'm not familiar with that name, but I was hoping it might ring a bell to you?" Pyrope explained after speaking up. "She's a little pink devil I tell you! What are your orders?" Emerald asked, demanding orders on how to stop Nora and her friends. Black Diamond thought for a moment and then spoke up a bit briefly. "Hmm...keep a sharp eye out for this pink-haired girl, I will contact you soon." She said before cutting off communication with the three gems.

"_**Forgive me for speaking up My Diamond...but what does this pink-haired girl have to do with the current problem with Rose Quartz?**_" Bloodstone asked in confusion. "It has something to do with Rose Quartz alright...and I think I know who that little girl is." Noir spoke, suddenly, suddenly having a clear thought on who the girl might be. "She's certainly no Rose Quartz, I'll tell you that." Eyeball said in disgust. "Oh speaking of her, and according to the scan of the Robonoids, neither the Off-Colors or Rose Quartz were found beneath Homeworld's surface. Not even Jasper or Drusy Quartz." Squaridot explained, showing a holographic screen as proof.

"Hmm...judging that they're unable to be found, maybe it's possible that they escaped from Homeworld under our very noses." Hessonite spoke, figuring that what she said was the only logical answer. Hearing the commander's words, Noir growled, causing her right arm to glow an inverted light, along with Hessonite herself, as she yanked the Commander over to her face. "ESCAPED?! That's not possible." Noir growled under her own breath. "Exactly! They should've been shattered on sight!" Aquamarine exclaimed, furious about the possibility. "**Yes! And not to mention it would make us look bad in front of..._you-know-who._**" Bloodstone said, shivering a little.

"Yes, I know...but what if it's true?" Hessonite asked, making a good point. "I'd say it's true enough..." A voice spoke from the doorway, revealing to be Bismuth 1SL, who everyone assumed to be destroyed. "Bismuth 1SL? You're active." Squaridot exclaimed in shock. "I survived...no thanks to Hessonite's bumbling Bismuth." The rogue Bismuth pointed out in annoyance. "Hmm...I'll have to talk to her about that later." Hessonite muttered to herself. "So, what's our next move in finding Rose Quartz? Do we ask for assistance?" Bismuth 1SL asked, awaiting her orders from Black Diamond.

"We just sit around and have a ball and ignore the threat all together." Noir spoke sarcastically with a happy tone. "Oh goody. Really?" Navy asked with delight. "NO! You were given your orders to find Rose Quartz and her allies, so make like Red Eyes AND FIND THEM NOW!" Noir screeched, slamming her fist onto the table and causing the whole thing to disintergrate before the very eyes of her minions, even cracking a few parts of her moonbase itself, frightening the gems a little. "Woah..." Eyeball said awkwardly. "What's gotten you anxious all of a sudden?" Hessonite asked in suspicion, only for her superior to look away slightly.

"Goldsmuth, prepare the ship for launch. We're going after that pink-haired girl." Hessonite said, contacting her bumbling Bismuth. "_On it, Hessie._" Goldsmuth spoke with a cheerful voice. Then, the group of gems left the tower to search for Rose Quartz and her allies. "Look out Rosie, we're coming for you." Aquamarine laughed evilly. _**"I can't wait to see the look on her face when she gets destroyed by us!" **_Bloodstone yelled triumphantly, following her allies without hesitation. "We are finally one step closer to receiving our honor back." Hessonite said in such satisfaction before the door closed.

Black Diamond then ressumed her position as a Diamond, and looked over each of Planet Z's colonization process, when she spotted something on her screen from the corner of her eye. "And that much closer to stopping my sister too..." Noir sighed with satisfaction, pulling up a holographic image of herself and two other figures just like her with matching gemstones, one pink and the other one purple.

* * *

**(1) Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure reference**

**(2) I wonder who this could be? **

**Well...there you have it**

**Steven and Connie are both reunited together****.**

**There's another misadventure in another one of my stories called: Crossover Negaverse, so feel free to check it out when you want to. **

**Also in recent news, Steven Universe has come to an end... TT_TT**

**But please remember, I will still be continuing the stories no matter what, because there's more up ahead.**

**Anyway, stay turned for more chapters **

**Negaboss2000 out **


	7. Nora Starr

**Finally...I've been holding off on this for far too long**

**Looks like we're back in Bismuth with this story**

**So anyway, enjoy and let's get on with it already **

* * *

**NORA STARR**

* * *

_Once upon a time..._

_In a galaxy, far away, there lived a ruthless race of conquerors known as...The Great Diamond Authority._

_Series 3_

_Chapter 8_

_The tyranical members of The Great Diamond Authority of their Homeworld, having ignorantly caused a resource crisis, have devised an insidious plan to drain every resource from all other peaceful planets within the Milky Way through the power of __the infamous Genesis Orb._

_Word had begun to spread of a prophecy speaking of Rose Quartz's survival, the one who would defeat the great Diamond Authority and free all gems from enslavement and chaos. Infuriated by this, White Diamond along with Black Diamond, plan to go through insidious lengths to do whatever it takes to make sure this prophecy doesn't come true, even if it meant wiping out all planets who stood in their way._

_However, a small group of rebels known as the Off Colors stand in the way of them and their conquests, helping defective gems wherever they go. Also being the only ones to know the secret of where the son of Rose Quartz, Steven Universe, has gone._

_Now, a new adventure begins..._

_(If you don't recognise this, this title was inspired by the movie Spaceballs. A parody movie of Star Wars from 1986.)_

* * *

Klavius 7

Docking Bay 23

Emerald and her crew were gathering supplies from the well respected gem colony. With her Battleship and her precious ship, the Sun Incinerator, she had been chasing Nora and her band of Off-Colors for a while now, and she was even on the verge of having a meltdown, cursing on how the Off-Colors had made a fool out of her. "How long now...?" She growled, pacing around harshly as she looked at her Peridot. "I'll only take about a few more moments and we'll be complete for transport." The Peridot spoke, showing her screen on the supplies they now possessed.

"Good! The sooner I see those defective gems, they're dead!" Emerald finally yelled as she stomped her foot onto the ground hard. Eventually, she calmed down and went over to her precious ship, the Sun Incinerator, even gloating over it as well. "Ahhh, don't worry my precious. We'll get those traitors soon enough." She said soothingly, making a few of her crew cringe a little just seeing her like that. A few moments later however, her Peridot spotted something problematic. "C-Commander, we've got a problem..." The Peridot yelped slightly, gaining her commander's attention.

"Ugh, if the rubies or quartz soldiers are being stupid again, I swear upon my diamond-" Emerald began, only to be cut off by her own Peridot. "N-No...that's not the real problem." The Peridot said, pointing towards what appeared to be the Ruby Squad she owned, squashed into one of the battlespheres they owned. "Wh-What?! What's going on there?!" She exclaimed, summoning a makeshift telescope from her gem and looking through it.

"EMERALD! THEY'VE TAKEN THE DESTROYER!" One of Emerald's Ruby guards called over to her commander. "EMERALD! THEY'VE TAKEN THE BATTLESHIP! NORA AND THE OFF-COLORS, THEY'VE TAKEN THE DESTROYER!" Another Ruby screamed, pointing towards the giant ship that seemed to belong to Emerald. Looking towards the battleship, Emerald spotted Nora and her band of Off-Colors through one of the battleship's windows. Taking a closer look, Emerald could see Nora and her Off Color crew attempting to take the Destiny Destroyer, but it also looked like they were having a problem with getting it up into the air.

"Well, I suppose she underestimated us, of course she did..." Emerald muttered to herself, smirking a little as she placed the telescope back into her gem. "It only takes 45 gems to crew the Destiny Destroyer, and they're about a crew of...eleven." Emerald's Peridot spoke, making a really good point. "Tch, that is honestly the worst move that I ever saw from those fools." The commander responded as she rolled her eyes and handed her reports to her Peridot. "Citrines! Guard my Sun Incinerator! The rest of you, follow me to the Destiny Destroyer!" She then said, and to her expectance, the gems carried out their orders.

* * *

Inside the Sun Incinerator

After Emerald boarded the Destiny Destroyer, the Elite Citrines were all guarding Emerald's prized ship on the outside, preparing to attack any who would show up to possibly steal it. However, they failed to spot what appered to be an invisible outline that snuck onboard the Sun Incinerator. The figure then turned visible and revealed herself as none other than Fluorite, a six-gem fusion member of the Off-Colors. She then let go of her friends, Rhodonite, Padparadscha, Ruty and Tila, and Nora Universe herself as they looked around the place.

"Nice Job, Fluorite." Nora said with a cute smile. "Thank you. Nora. It's certainly. Been. A While. Since. I've done that." Fluorite said with a simple nod. "I've gotta say...I never thought that plan would've ACTUALLY worked." Rhodonite said sheepishly. "Everyone, be careful. We're about to sneak past the Citrine Guards with Fluorite's invisibility." Padparadscha spoke, slow on predictions as usual. "Heh, yes we did, Padi." Rhodonite said in relief, patting Padparadscha's hair.

"Alright, we've gotta be fast. Fluorite, are you and your components able to take care of the engines?" Nora then asked the huge fusion. "Not. A. Problem." Fluorite responded with a smile before heading downstairs to deal with the engine room. "Ok, Rhodonite, Padparadscha, I'll need you on the two monitors beside the pilot seat." Nora then said, gesturing the two monitors on either side of the control pannel. "I-I guess I can give it a try." Rhodonite said, going to the monitor on the left. Nora then waited for Padparadscha to respond, even counted down from five before she did.

"Understood, Nora. I'll do my best." Padparadscha spoke as she made her way over to the monitor on the right. Nora then turned towards Ruty and Tila before speaking. "Ok, Ruty, Tila, can you fly this thing?" She then asked, turning towards the Rutile Twins who both smirked at the young girl. "Heh...you're joking right?" "This'll be a easier than flying a kite...even though we don't know how to fly a kite." They both said one after the other as they rushed to the cockpit. "W-Wait!" The twins, Rhodonite and Padparadscha yelped in realisation. "W-What about your seat Nora?" Rhodonite asked.

"Oh don't worry. I've got my own seat." Nora said with a smirk, eying the chair in the middle of the deck. "Ready. To go. Nora." Fluorite spoke, having gotten the engines ready for takeoff. "Nice. Ruty, Tila, take off. But make it fast so we don't end up alerting the whole planet." Nora said, giving the twins a bit of an order. "You got it, Nora." They both said in unison, activating the ship and slowly making the ship hover off the ground. "All systems go for launch." "Ignition!" The twins both said, Ruty first and Tila immediately afterwards.

* * *

Back in the Destiny Destroyer

Emerald's group boarded the Destiny Destroyer and each gem split off into several groups to search the ship. "Search every room, every level down to the core!" She spoke as she made her way up to the deck. Upon looking around, Emerald spotted _Nora and the Off-Colors_ and smirked. "I've got you all now! GET THEM!" Emerald yelled, ordering her troops to attack the gems...only to find that they were all decoys. Emerald was confused for a moment, until she heard the roar of a few engines outside. Looking outside, she saw her own ship, the Sun Incinerator, taking off while she and her army of gems had been distracted.

"Soldiers, back to the Incinerator! Now!" Emerald screamed in fright, realising that she had been tricked while ordering all of her gems to rush out of the Destroyer. A pack of rubies tried to jump aboard the Sun Incinerator but they were off by a huge mile and fell to the ground with a splat. Looking out the window, Emerald saw Nora, waving to her without any fear. "Thank you, Emerald, for giving us the ship and getting us ready to make way! We'd have had a hard time flying that warship by ourselves!" She called out to Emerald mockingly, making her more and more furious by the second.

The peridots fired directly at Nora, but thankfully the young girl managed to get the ramp up before she was even hit. Emerald then turned and walked back onto the main deck of the warship. "Get us into the air and destroy them at once before the Diamonds hear of this!" She ordered her Peridot, who seemed concerned about the way she was acting. "But the destroyer is slower than the incinerator, we won't catch-" The Peridot was cut off by Emerald as soon as she turned back towards her. "I don't intend to catch those Off-Colors, just get them in range of the titanic blasters!" Emerald ordered, feeling her sanity slowly slipping away.

"Attention gunners, activate all Titanic Blasters. Load them up and wait for my command." The Peridot said into the comm, allowing the rest of the gems to arm the warship's weapons and aim them at the Sun Incinerator. "We're to fire on your beloved ship, ma'am?" The Peridot then asked her superior in concern. "I'd rather see her blown to smithereens than being in the hands of a pack of Off-Colors." Emerald said firmly, glaring at her beloved ship in the distance while being oblivious to the fact that they weren't moving. "Emerald...they've disabled the engine core, ma'am." One of the Rutile pilots said sheepishly, pulling up a monitor to say so.

The worst came when Emerald also discovered that Nora had spilt her drink into the engine in order to disable the engines. She banged her head onto the controls of the pilot's seat, realising that it would take about _two days_ to fix the destroyer. "Well...that's got to be the best move from them that I've ever seen." Emerald's Peridot said in amazement, watching the Sun Incinerator flying off into the distance. "So it would seem..." Emerald muttered in annoyance, unable to believe that she'd been outwitted by Nora and her crew.

* * *

Two days later on Planet Earth

Steven's Home, Beach City

Connie and her two friends, Zach and Rogue were on the porch with Lion, who was lounging around. The young girl was wearing her father's jacket and carrying a backpack she owned along with Rose's sword. Zach and Rogue were both leaning against the railing together and Peridot and Topaz were also joining them too, mainly because they, like Steven and the gang, wanted to check up on how Nora was holding up in the cave.

"Steven, come on!" Connie called to the young boy. "Yeah bro, you've been in there for nearly a few who minutes now!" Zach groaned, getting a bit bored. "Sorry. I just had to make sure I had everything for Nora." Steven said sheepishly after emerging from the doorway with a white package with a pink bow on it. Steven then grabbed Nora's cuddly toy seahorse. "I bet Nora will really appreciate this package that Dad and everyone else put together for her. And her toy seahorse! To hug if she gets scared." Steven said as he walked out of the house.

"Ste-man, you never told me you got her that. I mean I know Nora loves seahorses, but I never knew she had one of those." Rogue chuckled as Steven put the package and the toy seahorse into Connie's backpack. "Then no offense Rogue, but neither of us know each other, other than last night." Steven said with a little chuckle. "None taken." Rogue responded with a smirk.

"Man, I'm so glad we're finally going to see Nora again. I couldn't stop thinking about her since we drove each other apart." Connie said as she closed her backpack while glad to finally see Nora for the first time in forever. "Yeah...I think we all are." Steven added in relief. "Hey Rogue." Zach then asked sheepishly. "Yeah, Z-man?" Rogue responded to her boyfriend. "Are you sure you wanna come? It's alright if you don't." Zach asked, wanting to make sure that his girlfriend was ready for what was next.

"Come on, dude. I wouldn't pass up an adventure or a chance to see Nora again for the whole world. Think about it; Steven, Connie, Zach and Rogue in space!" Rogue said, seeming pretty excited about going to space. "Hey! What about _us_?!" Peridot exclaimed in annoyance along with Topaz giving a disapproving look. "Oh yeah, and you two as well." Rogue responded sheepishly.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up, Rogue. Last time I saw Nora, she was huddled up in a dark cave with some other Homeworld fugitives. And I would've seen her but...I never got the chance to..." Steven said, remembering the downside of Nora's situation. "Yeah...I know..." Connie responded sadly, still believing she was responsible for Nora's situation before getting a brief hug from Steven.

"HEY! ISN'T THIS THE PART WHERE YOU BOTH KISS?!" A sudden voice yelled at the two kids, scaring and causing them to seperate immediately. The gang looked over to the source of the voice, which happened to be at a black car with none other than Travis Pottz, calling towards them through a megaphone. "Wooo! Steven and Connie, sittin' in a tree, _not_ K-I-S-S-I-N-Ging!" Travis called over to the two kids jokingly, even laughing out loud.

It all ended when Michael Thompson threw a pebble at him in annoyance and Travis leaping over the car to tackle Michael. "When are those guys gonna leave?" Rogue asked in annoyance, pretty bummed out that the government was watching their every step since yesterday. "I think the Director of G.U.A.R.D stationed them out here to keep an eye on the gems. So...it may be a little while." Steven responded sheepishly, having seen them parked beside the beach this morning and being told about them keeping an eye on him.

"Eh, I figured...either way, I'm ready for anything." Connie responded with determination. "Yep, same here girl." Rogue responded with excitement. "I'm ready if you guys are ready." Zach said, making sure he still had the hive mind. "Well what are we waiting for then? Let's get going already!" Topaz said with excitement.

"Lion. You ready?" Steven asked the pink lion, who opened one eye and then closed it. Lion then stood up but didn't stay up for long and rolled over, exposing his own belly and making a purr noise, making the gang admire his cuteness. "Eee" "Oh, my gah." "Sweet..." "Who's a good boy...?" Connie, Steven, Zach and Rogue all said while adoring Lion. Eventually, the kids got a hold of themselves and looked at each other with a serious attitude.

"We've gotta stay on task." Rogue said, placing her goggles down over her eyes. "You said it. Oh, and you might wanna hold your breath too." Steven responded as he held onto Connie's hand gently. As Lion rolled upright, Steven and Connie were the first to enter his mane, followed by Peridot and Topaz, who briefly got stuck before getting in eventually, and lastly, Zach and Rogue.

* * *

Within the Pink Dimension...

Steven and the gang emerged from Rose's tree, still holding their breaths, apart from Topaz and Peridot. It's there that they saw Nora's tree in the distance. "Well, are you clods finally ready to see Nora again?" Peridot immediately said with excitement, responded by the gang nodding at her.

* * *

Inside a ship...

Steven and the gang fell out of Nora's hair, while yelping, and landed on the floor with Peridot, as usual, landing on her face. "Steven?" Nora asked in brief surprise. "Nora...?" Steven asked, confused on what was happening, since he was no longer in the underground kindergarten caverns on Homeworld and saw that Nora wasn't in her usual clothes and wore some kind of Homeworld uniform.

"_It's over!_" A loud voice suddenly yelled, gaining the gang's attention. They saw a huge monitor with a live video feed on the ship where a green gem with light green skin, large spiky bright green hair, pointy fang teeth and a dark green rectancular gem replaced by her right eye, was yelling directly at Nora herself. "_I've got you all now, you miserable Off Colors!_" The gem yelled, continuing her yelling at Nora once more.

The young girl, however, got up and pointed directly at the green gem with the black cape flowing elegantly. "You'll never take us alive, Emerald!" Nora said, sounding so brave, in fact, braver than Steven remembered. There was no sign of the shy, innocent sister that she was when Steven first met her, in fact, standing in front of him was a girl who had become a girl who was willing to take risks to get back home.

* * *

**NORA STARR**

_Gem Characteristic Human, Off-Color Space Pirate_

_Voiced by Daveigh Chase_

* * *

"W-What is...going on?" Steven asked in confusion, looking around the green-tinted interior of the space ship that they and the gang were currently in. Zach and Peridot immediately spotted three of the Off-Colors and were even more amazed by the ship. "That's what I'd like to know..." Peridot asked, beginning to get interested by this whole situation that Nora had gotten herself into.

"Captain, I'm having a vision. We're about to be discovered...by Emerald." Padparadscha spoke, looking up and even raising her hands with a fake shocked expression, still annoying Peridot when she assumed that Paddi's vision took place directly in the past.

* * *

**PADPARADSCHA**

_Technical advisor with the power to predict the past_

_Voiced by Erica Luttrell_

* * *

"W-Wait. Did she say...Captain?!" Steven and Connie said in amazement, know knowing for sure that Nora had truly changed for the better. And that sudden mention of Captain made Peridot realise something important.

"Did she say captain...? Then that must mean...? Oh my stars! WE MUST BE ON THE LEGENDARY SUN INCINERATOR!" The little green gem squealed with excitement. And boy was she not wrong, the gang had warped into a huge yellow colored ship with the fuselage being the shape of a hexagonal prism with the front tapered with a point and there being two wings attached to the sides.

* * *

**THE SUN INCINERATOR**

Stolen from the heart of Homeworld

* * *

"Thanks for that Paddi." Nora said with a smile before turning towards the left of the ship's interior. "Fluorite, how are the engines looking?" The young girl then asked Fluorite, who was seen from the staircase to the floor below. "Let. Me. Check." The fusion of six spoke, slow as usual, but with a smile.

* * *

**FLUORITE**

_Chief engineer, leisurely fusion of six _

_(One Jade, one Iolite, Three Tourmalines and a Titanite)_

_Voiced by Kathleen Fisher_

* * *

Fluorite then went back down the stairs to inspect the Sun Incinerator's engine. "Ruty, Tila, fire up the nova thrusters!" Nora then said to the Rutile Twins without hesitation. "Yes, captain!" "Right away, captain!" Both the twins said without any fear, like Nora.

* * *

**THE RUTILE TWINS **

**(Ruty and Tila)**

_Two pilots. One Gem. Zero fear_

_Voiced by Ashly Burch_

* * *

"_No! **No!** Those are **my** nova thrusters! That is **my** ship!_" Emerald yelled, still throwing a hissy fit in front of Nora. "Rhodonite, everything clear up ahead?" Nora gently asked Rhodonite, though it sounded more of a whisper. "For now." The fusion of two spoke with a little bit of worry in her tone.

* * *

**RHODONITE**

Head of strategic operations, body of a star crossed fusion.

Voiced by Enuka Okuma

* * *

"Well...looks like someone's been busy for the last few weeks." Topaz said, proud that Nora had taken care of herself despite everything that happened. "It was a minor inconvenience when you stole my personal shuttle and crashed it on Upsilon 9. It was an insult when you impersonated imperial officers during a cosmic jubilee..." Emerald rambled on in annoyance while Nora smiled smugly with Ruty Tila and Rhodonite beginning to laugh at Emerald's failures.

"_But to steal my Sun Incinerator is **unacceptable!**_" Emerald said, antagonised over the fact that she couldn't keep her own precious ship safe from Nora. "Well...if this ship means so much to you, then maybe you shouldn't have left it unguarded in the docking bay of Klavius 7." Nora said smugly to her foe. "_There were 67 elite Citrines guarding it!_" Emerald screamed with the absolute fury that was rising within her. "Oh. I didn't see them. No wait. I did. They didn't see us!" Nora said, at first with fake concern and then turning into a smug comment as she crossed her arms.

"_I'll...get you! I'll get you **myself!** I'll do it right now. I'll blow you up to smithereens!_" Emerald said, slowly getting the feeling that she'd face the wrath of the diamonds for being a failure. "Good luck catching us. We stole your fastest ship!" Nora said with enough confidence within her. "The engines. Are all. Set." Fluorite spoke after emerging from the floor below. "Twins, hyperspeed us outta here." Nora then said to Ruty and Tila. "Right!" The two of them said, preparing to make the jump. "_You will **not** go at hyperspeed!_" Emerald ordered despite the fact that her words meant nothing to Nora or her Off-Color crew.

"_Bajinga_." Nora spoke with a wink, making a finger-gun with her right hand and using it as a way of mockingly salute Emerald. "_OFF COLORS!_" Emerald screamed before the transmission got cut. The ship then blasted off at hyperspeed through the galaxy, thus leaving her enemies into the dust.

* * *

Back on Emerald's ship...

At the same time.

"OFF COLORS!" Emerald screamed as the transmission was cut. "They cut me off! How did they do that?!" The green captain then asked in anger, jerking her head towards her own Peridot. "I don't know, ma'am. They must have figured out how to block all communications from any gem ship." The Peridot mentioned with shock. "And what can we do? Call Homeworld about this during hyperspeed?!" Emerald then asked in anger. "N-No, Ma'am!" The Peridot said, nearly dropping one of her faulty limb enhancers.

"Well get us after them then!" Emerald ordered with annoyance. "Yes, ma'am. Prepare Destiny Destroyer, for hyperspeed!" Emerald's peridot said, speaking into the comm before being cut off by her superior. "No, no, no, hyperspeed is too slow." Emerald said, dismissing that idea of her Peridot immediately. "Hyperspeed is too slow?" The Peridot asked in surprise and shock. "Yes, we're going to require..._Faster-than-light speed_ for this job!" Emerald immediately said, making her crew gasp in horror.

"_Faster-than-light speed_? Ma'am we've never gone that fast before. I'm unsure that the Destiny Destroyer will be able to take it." Hearing her own Peridot's words, Emerald turned towards her with annoyance. "What's all this I'm hearing, Peridot? Are you shivering like a piece of Chalk?!" She asked, feeling like she was being denied.

The Peridot was worried about this, but at the same time, she couldn't disobey her superior's orders or wishes for that matter. "Prepare Desti-" She began, sounding like a coward before stopping and correcting herself. "Prepare Destiny Destroyer, for Faster-than-light Speed! Fasten all seatbelts, seal all doors, put the main core on lockdown, secure all upperclass gems where possible-" Before she could finish, the Peridot was immediately cut off by her superior. "Give me that you miserable excuse for a Peridot!" Emerald yelled, grabbing the comm from the green gem.

"Now hear this: Faster-than-light speed-!" Emerald yelled while her Peridot got herself strapped down to her seat. "Ma'am, shouldn't you get strapped down first?!" She asked her superior with concern. "Oh come off it. Faster-than-light speed...GO!" Emerald screamed into the comm, and within mere moments, the ship indeed went into what she called Faster-than-light speed.

However, the sudden burst of speed caused Emerald to hold onto the control panel for her dear gem, screaming all the way as the ship rushed past all the stars going by. "OH MY STARS! THIS IS HORRIBLE! My gem's in my hand! It's in my hand!" She screamed, still managing to hold on for her gem despite the acceleration and the ship's speed creating visual wormholes in the fabric of space.

* * *

Back on the Sun Incinerator

Ruty and Tila swerved, avoiding Emerald's ship that zoomed past them at an uncomfortable rate. Everyone held on before the twins corrected the flight pattern and making the ship stable enough to walk on once again. "What the heck was that?" Rhodonite asked in concern as she looked towards the front window of the ship. "Emerald's destroyer..." Tila said in shock, unable to believe that Emerald's ship would go that fast. "Oh my...I have a prediction. Emerald will overshoot us by quite a few miles...and also, They've gone to stripe..." Padparadscha spoke with shock within her late prediction.

* * *

Back on the Destiny Destroyer...

"WE PASSED THEM! STOP THIS THING!" Emerald screamed in terror. "We can't stop! It's too risky. We've gotta slow down first!" Her Peridot yelped with panic as she closed her eyes with worry. "CODSWALLOP! JUST STOP THIS THING! I ORDER YOU, STOOOOOOOOOP!" Emerald screamed, and it didn't look like she was kidding either. Half the whole ship were concerned for their own gems as well.

Eventually though, Emerald's Peridot reached for the emergency stop button, with a lot of effort against the speed of the ship, and hit it. Thus taking the Destiny Destroyer out of Faster-than-light speed, and...unfortunately, sending Emerald flying into one of he pilots' monitors head first instead.

Concerned for her superior's wellbeing, Emerald's Peridot unbuckled herself like a few other gems and rushed to Emerald's side. "My stars, are you alright my clarity?" One of the rutile pilots asked in concern for Emerald. "I'm...fine...How is...everyone...been doing?" Emerald asked, feeling a little dizzy from crashing into the monitor. "It's a good think your form didn't explode from that." Emerald's peridot said with relief. "Anyway, what do we do now, ma'am?" She then asked, looking at Emerald as if to say the Off-Colors were still out there.

"Well...have we stopped?" Emerald asked, still a little dizzy. "Yes, Ma'am. Why?" Emerald's Peridot then responded with a bit of hesitance. "Well why don't we take a moment and then head off?" Emerald suggested, not acting like herself. "Very good, my clarity." One of the Quartz soldiers responded with a smile, feeling pretty excited. "Recharge your energy...if you have to..." Emerald said before immediately fainting.

* * *

Back on the Sun Incinerator

Nora and the rest of the Off Colors were finally able to relax after Emerald's ship overshot them by a mile. "Sheesh, she's been on our tail since Sector 4. That's like three sectors ago. Get over it, right?" The young girl said with a little bit of a chuckle under her breath before being drawn over to her twin brother's voice. "Nora!" Steven immediately yelped as he rushed forward to hug his sister for the first time in forever along with Connie. "Steven! Connie! Wow I'm so glad you guys showed up. It's been crazy without you." Nora said, hugging her brother and her friend back after all this time. "Yeah...you don't know the half of it." Connie replied sheepishly.

"What happened by the way? You guys said you were going to check up on us a few weeks back. Although I...yeah, I suppose it wouldn't have been the best time for you two to show up." Nora asked, wondering why neither her brother, Connie or Zach showed up, but realising that they would've come at a bad time. "Y-Yeah...it's a long story..." Connie then replied, not wanting to mention what really happened just yet.

"Anyway, I have so many questions! Where'd you get this ship?! And more importantly, where'd you get the cape?" Steven then asked, feeling like Nora was having a whale of a time with her new gem friends. "I stole them." Nora said with an innocent tone before it turned into a laugh. "I can't believe you managed to take the fastest ship in Homeworld's fleet!" Peridot exclaimed, dancing around Nora's seat. "Woah...you like this ship, Peridot?" Topaz then asked in surprise. "Are you kidding me? This ship is so much better than the Foot Cruiser I originally stole the day we escaped the human zoo!" Peridot said with excitement.

"Well, I'm glad you're surviving, Nora. I honestly didn't think you guys would get _this_ far." Zach then said with amazement, not even expecting Nora to escape Homeworld, even causing the hive mind to glow yellow. "Yeah...this is absolutely amazing!" Rogue asdded with excitement. "Zach! Topaz! Peridot! Nice of you to show up too." Nora said, glad her other friends showed up as well, however she suddenly stopped as soon as she noticed that Rogue was with them too.

"F-Felicia?!" Nora suddenly spoke in shock, seeing one of her other friends smiling smugly beside Zach. "H-Hello...this is um...this is just a hideout that my mo-" She began, trying to come up with an excuse before being cut off by Zach. "She knows, we told her everything." He said sheepishly as the hive mind glowed purple a little bit. He also gestured Steven and Connie, who both nodded sheepishly as well. "They didn't tell me. I figured it out by myself." Rogue responded with a smirk.

At that moment, Fluorite appeared from the lower floor's stairway. "Ste-ven. Connie. Zach. So good. Of you. To join us. Again." Fluorite said, glad to see Steven and his freinds again. "Yeah, I was missing you already." Ruty said, turning to face Steven along with her twin sister. "We both were in fact." Tila added sheepishly. "Ruty, Tila, you may want to focus on the window ahead." Rhodonite suggested with worry, nearly freaking out even. "Oh, sorry captain!" The twins said, apologising to Nora before resuming to watch their heading. "It's alright Rhodi, they were just glad to see my brother again." Nora told Rhodonite with a chuckle, making the fusion smile a little.

"Uh, Ruty and Tila?" Steven asked in confusion. "I came up with the nicknames for them. I couldn't keep calling them the Rutile Twins forever, could I? Plus, it's like the names Ruby and Lila, but mixed with Rutile." Nora explained, telling how she came up with the twins' names. "Yep, it's true. She's Ruty, and I'm Tila." Tila said, guesturing her twin sister first before pointing to herself. "Nice. You're good at nicknaming like Steven." Connie said in amazment. "Yeah, I know I don't do it often, but still, it's pretty cute." Rogue said in agreement, nodding a little.

"Who. is this? Another. Human friend?" Fluorite then asked, directing her attention to Rogue immediately. "Yep, name's Felicia 'Marie' Game, but everyone calls me Rogue. I'm a bit of a detective and I'm glad to meet you guys. So...you must be Nora's space friends that Steven told me about." Rogue said, introducing herself to the new gems. "Yeah...although, they're so much more than that. Without them, well...I suppose I'd still be stuck in that cave on that Gem Homeworld. They were able to figure out a way to get off that spooky planet, of course I helped lead them too." Nora explained, grateful to have met the Off Colors.

"But we never would have been able to steal a ship without Nora. She's able to slip past all the scanners _undetected._" Rhodonite said with a smile. "Plus, there's also Nora's strange pink powers that helped us." Ruty pointed out with a smile. "And she does a pretty good voice impression of an imperial officer too." Tila then added, amazed on how well Nora could pull off a voice impression like that. "Her name is Felicia." Padparadscha spoke, delayed with her visions as per usual. "And _yet_, we're talking about something different, Padparadscha." Peridot then said in annoyance.

"Anyway, after a few stolen ships, a couple of space crimes, and a lot of rescues, we're finally on course back home to Earth." Nora said, glad to finally be heading back home after the whole abduction event a few weeks back. "Oh, speaking of Earth, your dad and everyone else put this together for you." Connie said, taking out the package from her backpack and handing it to Nora. "Oh?" The young girl said as she opened the package to see it's contents.

Upon opening the package, Nora saw a lot of stuff inside: Her stuffed seahorse toy, her dungarees and pink shirt, one of her old hairbands, her Mysteria action figures, a box containing something else and then some kind of pink gemstone in the shape of a heart, presumingly being created by Nora herself. "Oh nice! My clothes and my hairband! And _Spinnie_...I'm so glad she's still here." Nora said, tying her hair into a ponytail before picking up the pink gemstone and hugging it along with her seahorse.

"Yeah...Purity said that the gemstone was special to you." Steven said, unsure what he Omni-Diamond meant when he was given the gemstone to give to Nora. "Yeah, Spinnie really is. Aw, everyone really didn't have to do all this for me. Besides, I'll be back home sooner than I thought anyway." Nora said, glad to see that everyone thought of her. "We are excited about your Beach City, Nora." Tila said, having turned over to Nora with a smile alongside her twin sister. "I look forward to a planet of sand and water." Ruty added, also smiling at Nora.

"It's much more than sand and water, Ruty. Still, I'm finally excited to get back home...to my home. And my room. My school! And...Dad." Nora said with excitement, though it slowly faded when she remembered what her life used to be like before she was abducted. "How's Dad, Steven? And...how did he take the news?" The young girl then asked with concern. "He was...shocked at first...and I was still upset about having to leave you behind, but he came around eventually." Steven explained, explaining what happened after getting home.

"Oh right...w-wait! But what about everyone else? Lars, Sadie, Kiki, Ronaldo, Peedee, Onion ever!" Nora then asked, worried about the other humans that were supposed to be abducted by Aquamarine and Black Diamond. "They're fine. In fact, I think they're getting on amazing after what happened." Steven explained with excitement, hoping Nora would be pleased to know. "Oh? Are they?" Nora asked in surprise.

"Yeah. We were able to save Beach City from this crazy cowboy businessman and now Lars and Sadie formed a band, Sadie Kilelr and the Suspects. Their band is awesome!" Steven said, pulling out a phone to show the photos of what had happened since she was away. "I'm glad my cousin finally gained the courage to get with Sadie." Zach said as Nora went through all the photos and even the ones of her and Steven's father, helping out with Beach City. "Woah...they look...really happy...without me..." Nora said beginning to glow pink strangely.

Zach looked at the hive mind and saw that it was glowing red, then blue, then purple. "Uh, that doesn't look good." Rogue said, noticing the different colours cycling through the hive mind all at once. "It doesn't look good, ane neither does that." Peridot said, pointing out Nora glowing brightly pink. All of a sudden, an alarm began to blare without warning, and warning alerts began popping up all around the Sun Incinerator.

"What the-?!" Peridot yelped in shock, seeing all the alerts. "Ok, _that_ doesn't sound good." Topaz said nervously, looking all around the ship at the alerts. "What's going on?!" Connie asked with worry. "Nora? Nora! NORA!" Steven called out to her sister, but Nora ignored him and kept cylcing through the different photos of everyone having a good time without her...or so she thought. "Captain Nora, that huge battleship is approaching fast. It'll be here in a few quads. What are your orders?" Rhodonite asked, beginning to get worried about Nora, who was still glowing pink from the looks of it.

"I...I don't believe this..." Nora began, glowing a little bit more brightly pink. "HOW ARE THEY HAVING SUCH A GOOD TIME WITHOUT _ME?!_ IS DAD EVEN CONCERNED ABOUT ME AT ALL?!" Nora yelled angrily, suddenly damaging the floor a bit with her shouting, even frightening her brother and friends while zooming in on her dad and then everyone she knew. "Of course he is! Both of us were worried sick about you for weeks!" Steven exclaimed, trying to bring some sense back into her own sister.

"Already three quads away." Rhodonite said, beginning to get nervous once again. "What should we do about it?" Connie asked after walking beside the fusion. "Is there anything we _can _do about it?" Rogue asked with worry, trying to use her skills to figure out what the gang could do to help the Off Colors. "Well, we _could_ drop out of warp and ambush them, but that might be too risky. Or maybe we find a nearby planet to hide on? I'm _not sure!_" Rhodonite said, freaking out and nearly unfusing into her two components.

"Well what do you _usually_ do?" Topaz then asked in confusion. "Usually? Usually we just _follow_ Captain Nora's orders!" Rhodonite squeaked in fright. "Captain Nora has taken so many risks on our behalf and even rescued us too." Tila said, just as worried as her twin sister. "We need her!" Ruty added, sounding really desperate. "Oh no! The warning alarm! We're in danger!" Padparadscha said with concern. "Oh really? I wonder what gave it away?" Peridot said sarcastically to Padparadscha. "Did you hear that Nora? Your crew needs you!" Steven said, hoping to give Nora a bit of a heads up.

"Don't you get it, Steven?! I should've been there to help out with everything! I should've been there to help everyone out, but instead I'm stuck out here thanks to that little brat who tried to take them all! Then mom probably had us to try and leave all _her_ problems behind for me to solve!" Nora said at first beginning to tear up and sniffle until finally she broke down into tears while mentioning things about her mom that she knew weren't true at all...at least to her.

"Then _you_ were probably glad to be rid of me, since everyone found me more cute than you!" "Nora, No! That's not wh-" Steven began, only to be cut off by his own sister when he tried to deny Nora's thoughts. "Liar! I noticed that you were annoyed about a lot of that when we first met! Isn't that why you never came to visit me until now...? Because you thought I war replacing you?! Did Pearl put you up to all this?!" Nora cried out, bluring out things that weren't even slightly true.

"No! Nothing like that!" Connie said in a panic, gaining her friend's attention despite her being grabbed by Nora's pink polygonal constructed hand. "Then why?! Why couldn't Steven visit me at all?!" Nora screamed, having a mental breakdown with her glowing body getting worse by the second. "He couldn't come to visit you because of _me_!" Connie finally blurted out without hesitation. Gaining Nora's and the Off Colors' attention, even making the young girl's glowing to slightly stop.

"W-What...you...? I don't understand..." Nora said in surprise as Connie looked towards Steven before letting out a sad sigh. "After we got back home...Steven and I had a huge falling out and we both drove each other apart over your decision to stay behind. Lion ended up staying with me, mainly because he was disappointed about me hurting Steven, and then Steven had no way of getting to see you." Connie explained, still blaming hersef for everything that happend during the past few weeks.

Steven nodded sadly even looking away slightly. "So that's why...Connie, why didn't you say anything?" Nora asked, seeing her friend tear up over the promis she broke. "Because I was worried on how you'd react to me, that I broke your promise." Connie admitted in shame. "I...I'm sorry...I didn't know how my decision would affect you guys." Nora said apologetically to her friends and her brother.

"Shh...it's ok...it's ok..." Steven said, soothingly hugging his own sister despite her glowing and all. "Girl, do you honestly think that everyone was living their lives just to forget you?" Rogue asked rhetorically, knowing fully what the answer was. "W-Why else would they do that...?" Nora asked, still a little tearful. "Because life goes on, no matter what happens. Nora, everyone was so upset when they found out you were in stuck in space. They really missed you." Steven explained, and he wasn't wrong. Everyone was upset about Nora staying behind.

"Yeah, even everyone at school misses you too, but they tried to help feel better. I even dropped everything to help your brother out with his life and even Connie too. I even skipped a few days to do your homework and all, then I got back together with Zach because...I needed someone to help me feel better." Rogue then pointed out, surprising her friend as she spoke.

"And come on, look at you! Rogue thought that you were stranded in some cave on that Homeworld, but you're not! You're out here fighting for freedom with all your new Off Color friends! You went from being a quiet and shy little girl in class, to a bold and daring gal in space. Did you do any of this just to drive Steven and Connie apart or make everyone worry?" Zach asked, using the hive mind to make a good question.

"What kind of question is that...? Of course I wouldn't! I'm out here fighting so I can get home and if I can, help the gems take down the Diamond Authority. But...I wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone I care about." Nora said firmly despite a little sadness still left.

"And do you really think I'd try to get rid of you for Pearl?" Steven asked, giving his own sister an armor piercing question. "N-No...I know you wouldn't..." Nora said, calming down and with her pink glow ceasing more and more by the minute. "And think about Mom...do you really think she would've had us just to get rid of her problems?" Steven then asked, even though he was still unsure about his mother after hearing of the shattering.

"Y-You're right...Mommy wouldn't want me to be sad, and I know she'd want me to help my family! Because-" Nora began, wiping her eyes before being cut off by Steven and Connie. "Because!" They both said, one after the other before grabbing each other's hands and causing Steven's gem to glow. "Because you all care about one another!" The two kids then said in unison, being engulfed by the bright pink light, amazing Nora before Stevonnie appeared right in front of her. "And people who care about one another wouldn't do anything to hurt each other." The fusion then said with confidence.

* * *

**STEVONNIE**

_An Experience_

_Voiced by: __Amanda Joy Michalka_

* * *

"Woah...so cool." Nora said in amazement. "You bet, Nora." Zach added with a smirk. "I find fusion to be a great way of helping with anxiety. You should try it sometime soon." Topaz added while amazed that Steven was capable of fusing with other humans. "I suppose you're right, but I honestly had no idea you guys did any of this stuff." Rogue added, a little uncomfortable but amazed at this newfound power that Steven had.

"It's here...one of the Imperial Warships have just caught up to us!" Rhodonite yelped in fright. "What?" Nora said in shock. "And imperial warship?" Stevonnie asked in confusion. "One from Yellow Diamond's armada no doubt." Peridot added, glaring out the window and preparing to see the ship. The gigantic ship caught up to the Sun Incinerator, dropping it out of hyperspeed before turning towards the ship while charging it's beam at it.

The ship was an enormous green octahedron type of ship, similar to a the designs of a diamond communicator. It had a small windscreen on the front, assumingly where the cockpit was. Four long, claw-like prongs that extended from all of it's four sides where it's main cannons were. "The Destiny Destroyer! Their main weapons are pointed right at us!" Rhodonite shrieked in fear. Nora, after taking one last look at a photo of herself, her brother and her father, then smiled. "Hmm...pulling out the big guns just for us, are they?" Nora asked as she got off his chair and walked over to Stevonnie to give Steven's phone back to her.

"With a ship like that, Emerald could wipe us out in an instant, of course...she could, if she really wanted too." Nora said, her courageous self returning. "What do you mean by that Nora?! Of course wants to destroy us!" Rhodonite said, freaking out even more. "Incoming message from the Destiny Destroyer." Ruty said, feeling worried about Rhodonite being right. "Onscreen." Nora said, allowing Tila to activate transmission on the main screen, thus revealing Emerald, who laughed menacingly upon seeing them again.

"Did you really think I wasn't going to be able to track my own ship? The Sun Incinerator's specialized nova thrusters give off an energy signature I _could_ recognise from the other side of the galaxy." Emerald said with pride. "You mean _if _you could recognise it from the other side of the galaxy." Peridot added jokingly with a snicker, nearly destroying her pride. "Pathetic. Now, surrender to me, or be _destroyed..._" Emerald then said threateningly.

Nora merely laughed back at Emerald's threat, almost like it was nothing to be worried about, and to her, it wasn't. "I'd never surrender to the likes of you! Blow us into stardust like you've always dreamed of." Nora said with pride as she turned away from Emerald, who was surprised by Nora's sudden phrase. "Very well...Prepare yourselves for _destruction!_" The commander said in a stunned voice before ending the transmission.

The sight of Nora's pride and confidence had shocked Stevonnie, Zach and Rogue. "Nora, what are you doing?!" Stevonnie asked in a panicked expression. "Girl, have you lost your marbles!" Rogue asked, feeling like Nora was _actually_ trying to get herself and her friends killed on purpose. "Drop the shields, Rhodonite." Nora then said, giving the fusion an absolutely crazy order, even to her. "But that would leave us open to their attack! We wouldn't stand a chance!" Rhodonite shrieked at the order. "Trust me, we'll all be just fine. Now lower the shields." Nora said with a bit of reassurance, but not enough for the other gems.

"But-" Rhodonite started before being cut off by the Rutile Twins. "The destroyer's weapons are charged at 90%." Ruty said, getting more and more worried by the second. "They're preparing to open fire!" Tila exclaimed, feeling like Nora had lost it, especially with the destroyer charging up more and more power. "Lower the shields! Please...trust me..." Nora said, being sincere to her fellow Off-Colors. "L-Lowering shields..." Rhodonite said after gulping nervously, she then proceeded to lower the Sun Incinerator's shields reluctantly.

The Destiny Destroyer opened fire with the laser beams directly at the ship, but strangely they grazed the Sun Incinerator and even caused it to shake about a bit with everyone screaming in panic. "Ruty, Tila, what's our status?" Nora asked as she looked at the twins, who then looked at the pilot monitors. "Our weapons and shields have been knocked offline, but-" Ruty began while allowing Tila to finish up. "-otherise...We're fine?" She said with surprise. "We're still...alive! The lasers barely grazed us!" Rhodonite said in relief. "Emerald is about to attack, but...She's going to miss _on purpose._" Padparadscha then said with yet another late prediction.

"Ugh, that little clod is-wait what?!" Peridot said before realising something that the orange sapphire had actually said. "Heh, you said it. Bajinga!" Nora said, knowing all along what was really going to happen as Emerald appeared on screan once again, looking furious. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!" She bellowed in confusion before being met with Nora's hysterical laugh. "You really _do_ have a heart, don't you, Emerald?" She asked with pride. "W-WHAT?!" Emerald exclaimed in confusion as Nora turned around and triumphantly pointed at the green commander.

"You're not going to hurt the ship! This ship is your precious ship. You love this vehicle! It's what you..._care about._ You'd rather let if get away than destroy it." Nora spoke as she posed smugly and giggled. "Woah...I never knew Nora had that in her." Stevonnie said in amazement as she looked towards Zach and Rogue, who both nodded in disbelief. "You're right about that. I won't destroy my beautiful ship. But I will make it so you can't get away! Aim for their nova thrusters!" Emerald ordered as she went off screen yet again.

The destroyer fired at the Sun Incinerator once more, thus causing the ship to shudder with everyone shouting in fright. "Evasive maneuvers! If only our weapons and shields were online, we'd be outta here." Nora said, feeling that the whole ship was defenceless. "I think she has us this time." Ruty said in concern. "She does...unless we use..._the things._" Nora suggested, coming up with a strange idea.

"The things?!" Rhodonite exclaimed in shock before a video message from Fluorite appeared on Rhodonite's screen. "Not. Those things." The huge fusion said slowly. "What things are you talking about?" Stevonnie asked in confusion. "The captain's experimental fighter jets that only _she_ and _Fluorite_ know how to drive. It's far too risky!" Rhodonite explained, still nervous about the decision that Nora had made. "We're out of options, everyone." Nora said as she returned to her chair.

"But Nora, your crew needs you and Fluorite on the ship." Stevonnie pointed out, making a really good point. "Plus, you could get yourself killed out there." Topaz added to the responded nervously. "Well does anyone have a better idea?" Nora asked, looking to her friends for any ideas. "Captain Nora, permission to go in your place! If it's anything like driving a car, I should be fine." Stevonnie said as they saluted the young girl. "Plus, I'm good at videogames so...I'd like permission to go too." Zach then requested, saluting Nora as well. "Same here." Rogue said with a smirk.

"And if anything, I wanna get back at Homeworld for trying to destroy Earth!" Peridot said as she saluted Nora along with Topaz, who nodded firmly. "P-Permission...granted!" Nora said, unsure at first until she replaced that nervousness with a smile. "Alright, all you guys have to do is take out the enemy's main cannons while we get our weapon system and shield back online." Nora said as she pressed a button on her chair.

Stevonnie crouched down as they were engulfed by a green blob, Topaz seperated and knelt down before the green blob engulfed them, Zach and Rogue held each other's hand and knelt down too when the blob engulfed them and Peridot was engulfed by the blob when she tripped and fell onto her face.

"Fluorite, how long do you think we have before we have full power to shields and weapons?" Nora asked while her friends went down four seperate chutes. "Give me five. Minutes." Fluorite responded, giving a bit of good news. "Can those five really fly those ships?!" Rhodonite asked with worry. "If anyone can fly them, I'm sure it's friends of our captain." Ruty said, reassuring Rhodonite with confidence.

* * *

In a matter of moments

Stevonnie, Topaz, Zach and Rogue, and Peridot, all landed in the cockpits of their seperate fighter jets. "Woah...it _is _like a car!" Stevonnie said in amazement. "_Bro...this is gonna be just like the time when we both beat Galactic Armada VI, Rogue!_" Zach said on the comm to Rogue. "_Not exactly, Z-man. We're gonna have to do things a little differently this time._" Rogue said with a smirk on her face. "_Of all the ships...WHY'D I HAVE TO GET THE SMALLER ONE?!_" Peridot exclaimed in annoyance.

"_Because you're the smallest?_" Topaz said with a little chuckle. Everyone had gotten strapped in and prepared to launch right as Nora appeared on their fighters' screens. "_Ok, we'll watch your backs while you guys take out those guns. If any homeworld fighters show up, try and take out as many as you can. Now launch! And may my mom's spirit be with you._" Nora spoke, giving the gang their orders before getting them ready to launch. All of a sudden, Padparadscha appeared on the screen. "_Captain Nora is about to give the orders to launch._" The orange Sapphire spoke while annoying Peridot once again.

"_I'M AWARE OF THAT, PADPARADSCHA!_" Peridot yelled in annoyance, trying to dismiss her from the screen immediately. "_Peridot, focus!_" Topaz yelled, scolding the little green gem firmly. "Ok guys, ready to launch?" Stevonnie asked her gang, preparing to launch herself. "_All systems are go!_" Zach and Rogue both said in unison. "_Lock n' load!_" Peridot responded with no hesitation. "_Let's get smashing!_" Topaz added with confidence. "Alright, this is the Crystal Squadron, launching." Stevonnie said, preparing to launch.

Stevonnie then shifted the gear of her fighter from P to D3, Zach grabbed the two pilot levers and shoved them forward, Topaz switched on all systems and grabbed the lever in front of her to steer and Peridot pushed down on the pedals to blast off.

* * *

All fighters immediately shot out of four hatches from the Sun Incinerator. One of those ships was a small, grey ship with two wings that were attatched to two engines that were attatched to the fighter's fuselage.

* * *

**THE STAR SKIPPER**

* * *

The second ship, Topaz's ship, was a huge gold cube that acted as the fuselage while surrounded by four engines that were attatched to it along with a huge engine on the back.

* * *

**THE BLOCK-BUSTER**

* * *

The third ship, Zach's and Rogue's ship, was a sphere with two halves of it being seperate fuselages that had a wing on each side and three engines on either side.

* * *

**THE DUO-DYNAMO**

* * *

And finally, Peridot's little ship, was a triangular ship that was shaped like a slice of pie with a fin on the back of it and a really huge laser blaster on the bottom.

* * *

**THE LIL' LAZER**

* * *

All five began piloting their fighter ships right towards the Destiny Destroyer, which began firing on the seperate fighters. "_Get in close! They can't aim at themselves._" Nora spoke through each one of the comms. "Roger that. I'm going in!" Peridot yelped, diving towards the destroyer's main guns. Unfortunately for her, a robotic fighter appeared out of nowhere and begun chasing her down. "Heads up, you guys!" Peridot yelped to the rest of her friends as more and more of the robotic fighters appeared from the Destiny Destroyer.

"What are those things?!" Zach asked in shock as he and Rogue tried avoiding them. "_Fighter Robonoids, designed fighting in space for even the strongest of armadas!_" Peridot explained as the robotic fighters began blasting at the squardron and many even headed towards the Sun Incinerator. "Stevonnie, you go take out the guns, me and the others'll take care of these things!" Topaz said to Stevonnie through her comm. "_Understood, good luck, Topaz._" Stevonnie responded as they headed off to take out the main guns on the destroyer.

Meanwhile, the rest of the squad dealt with the fighter robonoids. One of the fighter robonoids had gotten on Zach's and Rogue's tail, and nearly hit them if it didn't miss by inches. "Ohohoho, you did NOT just shoot that stuff at me!" Rogue said with a chuckle before turning her part of the fighter and blasting at the Fighter Robonoid, blowing it up immediately. "Wooo! In! Your! FACE!" She yelled victoriously, getting pumped full of energy.

Topaz on the other hand, shot down multiple fighter robonoids that surrounded the Sun Incinerator but forgot about the one chasing her. It became worse when she spotted one of the fighters trying to ram her way into her ship. "Do a barrel roll!" Topaz yelped to herself before she did a barrel roll to the right, thus avoiding the two robonoids and making them smash into each other. "Take that you stupid machines! Hmm, where've I heard that previous phrase before?" She pondered to herself.

Back with Stevonnie, they were in range with "This is Stevonnie here. Target within Range." Stevonnie said as she prepared to blast at the destroyer's main guns. "Targeting!" She then said before firing her blasters at the main guns upon the warship. "_One down!_" Nora said after Stevonnie took down the first main gun. "_That's two!_" She continued after the second gun was destroyed. "_Alright! One more left!_" With that said, Nora awaited on the destruction on the fourth and final gun.

As soon as Stevonnie destroyed the last one, the Destiny Destroyer was completely disarmed for now. "_Aaand that's everything. Come on back you guys._" Nora said as the Crystal Squadron made their way back to the Sun Incinerator. However, several missiles were immediately launched from the Destiny Destroyer that were aimed for the Star Skipper. "_Ohhh snap, incoming missiles straight ahead!_" Nora yelped in fright, just as Stevonnie quickly shifted the gear into reverse.

Immediately, the thrusters on the skipper flipped around to the front and blasted Stevonnie into reverse with the missiles following her. Stevonnie did their best to evade the missiles, one of them was still heading directly for them head on. "It's too late, Nora. I can't-" Stevonnie began, only to be cut off by a sudden blast that sent the missle flying out of control and into the distance. "_It's never to late when you've got my help, you clods!_" Peridot said, appearing from out of the explosion and winking at her fusion buddy.

"Nice going there, Peridot." Stevonnie said in relief to Peridot. "_Thanks. And what do you know? That laser blaster on my ship really was handy after all._" Peridot responded with excitement, even giggling about it. "Anyway, we'd better get back to the ship before-" Stevonnie began, only to be cut off when an electro magnetic pulse bomb was shot from the Destiny Destroyer and right at the Crystal Squadron's fighter.

"What the-" Rouge began before her's and Zach's ship was hit as well. Each of the pilots had lost control of their fighters and gained a lot of critical damage, causing them to spiral out of control towards one of the nearest planets. "Steven?! Connie?! Topaz?! Zach?! Rogue?! Peridot?! NOOOOOOOO!" Nora screamed in fright, thinking that there was nothing she could do to save her friends from crashing onto the distant planet.

To be continued...

* * *

**Woah...looks like this story's suddenly spiraled out of control O_o**

**Wanna know how it continues? Yeah, you and me both.**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter either way.**

**Negaboss2000 out ^^**


	8. Jungle Moon

**Ready to continue from the last chapter?**

**If so, then we'd better get on with it.**

**Enjoy ^^**

* * *

**Jungle Moon**

BOOM!

Explosions went off in the distance...then silence...then a huge pulse exploded within a mile's radius...then four familiar ships fell towards the nearest planet. Those four ships belonged to the Crystal Squadron, who tried to regain control of their own ships, but nothing seemed to be helping them. Stevonnie was trying to regain control of her's like the others, but still nothing worked. It was then that Nora popped up on screen, and boy was there a chance to get out of the mess they were in.

"_Nice going, you guys! Emerald's on the run!_" Nora said, glad that her brother and her friends were able to stop the Destiny Destroyer and the fighter robonoids. "Nora! We're hit! All of us! Nothing's working in any of our ships!" Stevonnie cried out in panic. "_We're all going down!_" Peridot shrieked in terror, trying everything to get her ship back online. "_WHAT?! Oh no! Just hang on! Tell me your course so I can try to interce-_" Nora began, unfortunately the transmission warbled before completley cutting off the conversation.

"Can anybody hear me?! Nora?! Zach?! Peridot?! Rogue?! Topaz?!" Stevonnie yelled, desperate to try and contact anyone, even if it seemed impossible, they still had to try. "What is wrong with you ship?!" They then asked after pressing random buttons on her panel. It was then that a lot of warning screens appeared all around the cockpit of he ship, showing that there was a lot of critical damage done to the whole ship itself.

"Oh, pretty much everything. Hmm...it must've been that EMP pulse. Well, at least the display wasn't affected!" Stevonnie then said, thinking that having the display up was a relief. However, they spoke too soon when the display shut down as well, especially since the ship was still heading on a collision course with the nearby planet. "AAHHH! Downer!" Stevonnie then screamed as the star skipper entered the atmosphere of the planet, thus beginning to generate a lot of heat in the process. In fact, all four ships were. They all acted like meteorites that were being pulled towards Earth, only they were ships and the planet wasn't Earth.

* * *

On the Planet

The Star Skipper was the fastest and thereby the first ship to fall towards the ground. "I can't pull up! We're gonna crash!" Stevonnie screamed, attempting to safely crash the ship without getting too much damage. However, they then looked up to see that the skipper was on a collision course with some kind of tree. Stevonnie braced for impact and the skipper then crashed into it with an explosive result.

The Star Skipper...or what was left of it, fell all around onto the ground. Stevonnie then appeared, having rolled down inside of Steven's bubble with a lot of protection. They then woke up, making the bubble to pop. "Oh boy." Stevonnie sighed in relief as they got up to look around. "Where are we now?" They asked themselves in confusion. "Uh...Hello? A-Anyone out there? Anyone at all?" They called, walking around and hoping that someone would answer, but nobody did.

At that moment, the Duo Dynamo came crashing towards the human fusion. Stevonnie shrieked and tried moving out the way, however they then saw a bright blue aura engulfing the duo fighter ship which turned into a bird and safely allowed the ship to float down to the ground. The bird then disappeared and the ship landed on it's side. "Zach! Rogue!" Stevonnie then yelled, rushing over to the fighter ship to help their friends out. Zach's side of the dynamo then flung open with the door flying into a tree.

Zach then emerged, using the Hive Mind to blast the door open. "Stevonnie, can you gimme a hand? I think Rogue's hurt!" He said, panicking as he rushed around to Rogue's side of the ship with Stevonnie as well. They had to work fast, especially with the fuel leaking from the engine that was about to go boom. Luckily, with their strengths combined, Stevonnie and Zach got the cockpit door open to see Rogue, who had hit her head and became unconsious from the crash. Zach then pulled her out of the pilot seat as he and Stevonnie rushed away before the ship exploded.

"Phew...that was lucky." Stevonnie said in relief before seeing Rogue's unconsious form and getting on her knees to help their childhood friend. "Oh no! Rogue! Rouge, talk to me! Felicia, please don't be dead!" They yelled, pleading for Rogue to wake up on the verge of tears. Rogue then moved slightly. "Heh...that's the first time in years that you said my name, girl. I never knew you cared so much..." She spoke softly as she opened her eyes up to see her friends with her. "Thank the stars! I thought you were dead!" Zach said in relief, hugging his girlfriend tightly. "Zach, chill out dude, I only hit my head on the windscreen, it's nothing too bad." Rogue responded with a chuckle.

Zach gave his girlfriend a serious look and wanted to scold her for brushing the pain off, but Rogue immeidately noticed her surroundings and turned towards Stevonnie. "Uh, where the heck are we?" She asked while being helped to her feet by Zach. "I...I think we're on some kind of planet." Stevonnie responded as they lead the two teens away from the explosion site. As they walked on, a nearby plant began to expand like a balloon, shocking the three teens in the process.

They braced themselves for the worst, preparing to draw Rose's sword, Zach had prepared to use the Hive Mind just in case and Rogue took out a huge flashlight to hit it just in case. However, a large flower bloomed from the plant, taking them by surprise but not proving fatal in any way possible. "Wow...this flower's nice. If my dad saw this, he'd do anything to keep it from harm's way no matter what." Zach pointed out after sniffing it a little. "Ok, that's besides the point. We're fine. We're all fine." Stevonnie then said as they continued leading Zach and Rogue to wherever.

Another explosion suddenly went off in the distance, making the trio think that it might be the other fighters that Topaz and Peridot had. Rushing over to the site of the explosion, Stevonnie, Zach and Rogue saw a huge path of destruction, even Topaz and Peridot, pinned under all the debris. "Peridot! Topaz!" Stevonnie said in relief, rushing towards the two gems. "Stevonnie, you made it!" Topaz said in relief as she tried shoving the engine of the Block Buster off of her. "Are you both hurt?" Rogue then asked, needing to know if either of the gems were injured.

Peridot grunted and groaned while trying to shove the debris off before speaking. "Sorry, we're fine. We'll be with you in a moment. I just...have to get...this cloddy debris off me!" Peridot yelped, straining to throw the engine off with her metal powers which only worked for one of them. "Sheesh, well that could have been worse." Topaz said before the fuselage, that remained of the Block Buster, fell on top of them, not only ausing them to groan in annoyance, but it also made it harder for the gang to get out of the debris. "You're kidding me right?! You clods!" Peridot grumbled as she and her friends tried to wiggle their way out of the fuselage.

"Ugh, figures...I'll take care of it." Zach said, activating the Hive Mind and using it's Telekinetic abilities to lift the fuselage off the two gems, allowing them to get out from the wreckage. "Well...now we're all together again. Let's just...follow me for now until we figure out what to do." Stevonnie then said, leading the whole group once again. "Well that's just great. And how are we supposed to contact Nora now?!" Peridot grumbled in annoyance. "The radio's in our ship malfunctioned before it blew up." Rogue explained briefly. "Then I think the radio on my ship was busted before I fell out." Topaz added saldy.

"Don't worry you guys. I'll find our ship's radio and Nora will pick us right up." Stevonnie said with optimism. "Oh, good idea. That way we can all..." Peridot began with high hopes, only to suddenly fall silent. "We can all what?" Rogue asked as she looked at Peridot, who was ominously looking upwards towards the sky. Everyone else looked up towards the sky and gasped in surprise and a bit of shock too. There they saw what looked to be the remains of a large Earth-like planet in the distance. What was thought to be once teeming with organic life was now a barren, fragmented and hollowed out world, devoid of all life.

Nobody said anything, in fact, they were too frightened at the thought of this being the result of what Earth would've been like. "P-Peridot...?" Stevonnie then squeaked nervously, speaking up after that silence. "Y-Yeah...?" The little green gem responded, slowly turning towards the fusion. "You remember what Purity said about life being dead in the Kindergarten because of the Genesis Orb she mentioned?" Stevonnie then asked, figuring that Peridot might recall that moment. "Y-Yes. Why?" Peridot responded firmly.

"Do you...Do you think the Genesis Orb caused all of this too...?" Stevonnie asked, afraid to know the answer. "It's possible. That world's been barren for years because of the planetary energy being sucked from it." Peridot explained from her own understandings. "So unless the energy is returned...the planet stays dead." Rogue then said, feeling her stomach churning with fear. "Yeah...I think we need to destroy the Genesis Orb once we get off this planet." Stevonnie said, figuring that it was a good idea to destroy the Genesis Orb in the future.

"But I think I overheard Purity talking about the Genesis Orb. I think she said that by destroying it, it's user would-" Topaz began, gaining everyone's attention briefly before everyone heard a humming of a monitor and turned towards the source. The humming had come from the control panel of the Star Skipper's cockpit, which still had a bit of powere. "The cockpit!" Stevonnie yelped as she rushed over to the control panel with Peridot, who tried to boost the signal a little bit.

"Hello?! This is Star Skipper calling Sun Incincerator. It's Stevonnie! Steven and Connie? Zach, Peridot, Rogue and Topaz are also here too. We're all stranded. We need help! Come on! Don't leave us here!" Stevonnie said, attempting to contact Nora despite that fact that the panel was mostly broken down and slowly losing power. "Yeah! I'll hunt you down if you do leave us!" Peridot exclaimed in anger, desperate top get off the planet. The control panel then stopped humming all together with the last bit of power fading away.

Now Stevonnie as beginning to get worried, seeing as how that bit of hope had failed her. "What do we do now? Finding the cockpit was our best chance of getting off this planet. We can't fix the radio, our ships are beyond hope, no one knows where we are." Stevonnie said, groaning in frustration before being confronted by Rogue. "Stevonnie, calm down, we'll find a way to get back somehow." Rogue said, giving her friend reassurance. "I know, but what do we do?!" Stevonnie then asked in a panicked expression.

Suddenly, the group heard a noise from a pair of bushes nearby. At first they were suspicious of the bushes, and Zach even got in front of Rogue to protect her as soon as he saw the bushes rustling. "LOOK OUT!" Zach then yelled as he saw and pointed out something which quickly leaped out of the bushes towards Stevonnie, who managed to summon Steven's shield just in time before it hit them. They then threw off the creature and it landed in front and everyone saw what it was.

The creature that tried to attack Stevonnie was some kind of deep purple arthropod-like creature with four legs, four eyes, a beak-like rostrum and a curved horn that extended upward at the end of it's rostrum, similar to that of a rhinoceros beetle. It then hissed at Stevonnie and the others with it's large pink tonge. Overall, the existance of this creature meant only one thing to the gang. "An alien! Jinx!" Stevonnie, Rogue and Zach said in unison. "This must be one of the creatures that life on this plaent." Peridot said in realisation.

The creature then lunged towards Stevonnie, who shoved Rogue and Zach out of the way before quickly drawing Rose's Sword. With the weapon, they sliced the creature in mid-air and caused the two halves of it to fall onto the ground. "Well...that was...surprisingly morbid." Topaz meekly said, rubbing the back of her head. "Well you could've flattened that clod yourself you big softie!" Peridot pointed out with a groan of annoyance. "C'mon, lay off her, Peridot. Everyone has their standards." Stevonnie pointed out as she stood up for Topaz a little.

Something then began happening all of a sudden...to the gang's surprise the decapitated creature's head suddenly began sprouting four little harmless legs. It then retreated back to the bushes, giving the gang one last hiss before going back in. "Well...that's one way of living." Zach said with the hive mind glowing purple. "It's an alien, what'd you expect?" Rogue laughed, seeing the awkward look on her boyfriend's face. "Y-Yeah... Glad they're ok!" Stevonnie then said before thinking on something.

"Hold the phone... If life can thrive here, then so can us." Stevonnie then said as she turned towards the gang. "Oh my stars, of course! This'll just be like that survival videogame I played when I was 10." Zach said with the hive mind glowing yellow all of a sudden. "Only this is going to be real life, Zach." Peridot pointed out and willing to give the survival a try. "We've just got to hold out until Nora finds us." Stevonnie then said as she walked over to the other half of the creature. "Until then..." They said before they stabbed the creature with Rose's sword and picked it up with a determined look. "...we survive." Stevonnie then finished as she lead her group out of danger.

* * *

Meanwhile, back on the Sun Incinerator...

Nora was frantically trying everything she could to contact her brother and her friends, but so far nothing was working for her. "This is Sun Incinerator calling Crystal Squadron! Come in Stevonnie! Felicia?! Zach...? Anyone...?" She said, attempting to call the fighters of the crystal Squardon. There was static coming from the radio, indicating that there was no way to contact any one of the people she loved.

"Ohhh, it's no use..." Nora said saldy, slumping over her chair with the other Off-Colors watching her sadly. "She's still worried about them...isn't she...?" Rhodonite said softly as she looked at Ruty and Tila, who looked just as worried as Nora. "Yeah..." "We're all worried about them, you're not alone, Nora..." Ruty and Tila then said, with Tila then speaking to Nora. Nora didn't respond at all, she was just didn't feel like talking at the moment. "Captain Nora's still upset since she lost contact with her friends..." Padparadscha then said with yet another delayed vision.

Fluorite then came out from Engineering and then noticed Nora's sad expression. "No luck. On finding. Steven. And his. Friends. I take. It?" She asked softly. "No...not even a single word from any of them." Rhodonite said sadly. The huge fusion then went over to Nora to comfort her as best as she could. "F-Fluorite...I'm worried about my brother and my friends. I-I wanna find them, but I don't know how we can track them." Nora said, shedding a few tears from her eyes with worry. Fluorite then thought for a moment befoer smiling with an idea. "Not. A problem. I know. Someone. Who can. Help out." Fluorite spoke with a smile before unfusing into her six components.

Iolite then walked over to Nora, despite being blind, she knew where she was going. "I can try to track their history and where they went, but first I'll need that box that Steven gave to you." She explained to Nora before being handed Nora's parcel. From the time she saw Fluorite's components, Nora learnt that Iolite was an important gem to Fluorite. She was capable of reading any kind of event by touching a certain object. Iolite touched the box, causing her gem to glow, and she saw everything that happened before until she reached the part where she found out where Stevonnie and her friends were crashing.

After that, the rest of her vision was blury. "I know where they are. But we must hurry. Your brother and his friends could be in mortal danger." The little gem spoke with concern in her tone. "Well then, there's no time to waste. Ruty, Tila, let Iolite fill you in on the details and then set a course to where. Indicolite, I might need help with tracking the ships' whereabouts." Nora then said to the Rutile Twins with Iolite rushing towards them. "Understood, Captain Nora. It'll take some time, but we'll find them soon enough." Indicolite then said as she nodded firmly and then used her powers to track down the ships of the crystal squadron.

"And what of the rest of us, Nora?" Titanite then asked in confusion. "Titanite and Lilac Jade, you're both on emergency standby in case my friends are in trouble." Nora then explained to the gigantic green gem and Lilac Jade, who both nodded firmly. "I'm on my way, guys...just please be safe." Nora then said to herself, determinte not to give up on her own brother and friends.

* * *

Back on the Jungle Planet...

Stevonnie cut through the forest using Rose's sword to clear the path up ahead for herself and the rest of the gang. Zach and Rogue were trying to get a signal on either of their phones, oblivious to the fact that there were no chances of getting a wifi signal on an unknown planet.

* * *

Stevonnie then used a grappling hook that she got to grapple some kind of fruit up in the treetops. After taking a bite from one of them, they then brought down a lot of fruit from the tree for the rest of the gang, and to her delight, they loved it.

* * *

After finding a river soon afterwards, Stevonnie, Rogue and Zach began drinking from it before noticing some kind of Ungulate creature drinking the water as well, one that had turquoise skin, a small amount of pale yellow stripes on it's tall hump on the back, a pinkish-yellow beak and surprisingly short legs with cloven hooves. Stevonnie then blew into the river to get it's attention and it worked, unfortunately resulting in her getting sprayed at by the creature. Stevonnie laughed along with her two buddies at the same time, it really was nice that Rogue was spending time with her childhood friend, even if it was a weird place that she was in.

* * *

However...

As time passed, Stevonnie had to build a shelter for herself and her buddies from the heavy rain with a cloth to help. Topaz was freaking out with the thunder and couldn't keep herself together, but it was lucky that Peridot was doing her best to calm her down. Rogue was also getting cold, and Zach decided to leand his hoodie to her. In the time during the storm, Stevonnie was able to shave their facial hair by using Rose's sword and what was left of the Star Skipper's window as a mirror much to her delight.

"Is it wierd that we're seeing this?" Zach asked, unknown what he was feeling like while watching Stevonnie, a fusion of his buddy and Rogue's childhood friend, shave themselves. The feeling of Disgust and Fear was shown when the Hive Mind glowed green and purple on two sides. "Eh, well I guess it'd be weird to NOT be weird, right?" Rogue pointed out with a bit of a smirk. "Yeah...I guess you're right." Zach then responded as he soon began to relax into the shelter.

* * *

Later on at Dusk...

The storm had passed and the gang got moving again. However...Stevonnie soon ran into a problem. "Come on, we have to, we're all out of energy bars!" Stevonnie groaned on Connie's half as they struggled with their hand reaching towards a small and very cute bird-like creature which had a turquoise blob like body with beady eyes, pinkish-yellowish beaks and a single pair of limbs that resembled tentacles/skinny arms.

"But it's so cute!" Stevonnie then said to themself as they pulled their hand back. "But we need the protein for a healthy diet!" Stevonnie then said as they reached forward for the bird once more. All the while, Zach, Rogue, Topaz and Peridot were getting a bit bored with this struggle against one of the creatures of the jungle. "There has to be another way! We can just take the fruit; Fruit's good." Stevonnie then said, choising to go with another option.

"Ugh, we're gonna be nothing but skin and bones at this rate." Zach groaned, getting a bit impatient. "_You guys_ will be skin and bones, but not us." Peridot pointed out with a snicker, earning a glare from Topaz and Rogue. "Way to be morbid, girl." The female detective groaned in annoyance. "Stevonnie, c'mon, can't you just leave it and we can get fruit?" Zach then called over to the female fusion, oblivious to the large shadow looming over him and the others at first.

"Hmm...you're right. I guess fruit it is." Stevonnie then said before strangely noticing the small bird roll away. The gang then froze in place, a sense of dread looming over them. "Does it seem...a bit...dark to you guys?" Peridot asked nervously, shivering a little. "It's not even supposed to be that dark out...right?" Rogue then pointed out nervously. The gang then turned around slowly where they saw two gigantic versions of the blob bird, only they had single claws at the end of their arms and looked a lot scarier. Both creatures then roared at the gang, causing them to flee whilst screaming.

"RUUUUUN!" Zach yelled, grabbing Rogue's hand and running away with Stevonnie and the gems. In order to avoid having the huge problem, they split off into two groups; One being Stevonnie and Peridot, and the other being Topaz, Zach and Rogue. Stevonnie and Peridot went through a thicket of trees in order to lose their persuing creature. Peridot would've been a gonner if the blob bird hadn't had grabbed her visor. Peridot managed to get her visor back after slapping the beast across the beak with her metal boomerang before Stevonnie yanked her away.

Topaz on the other hand was constantly dodging her persuer, that was rolling towards her with a vicious roar. Topaz then suddenly defused while hanging onto Rogue and Zach to avoid a tree in front of her components. That in turn caused the persuing giant blob bird to hit the tree and knocking it out all together. "Talk about a big banana split, eh Topa?" Azzy then said to Topaz as she smiled and high-fived her twin.

Stevonnie and Peridot soon reunited with the others before they all fell down a hill, crashing one ontop of the other. They didn't stay down for long before Topaz picked up Peridot, Rogue and Zach to save their legs from turning to jelly. All of a sudden though, the gang encountered a towering structure that was wrapped with large vines and plants in the distance. "Right, we'll be safe there." Stevonnie then said as she faced the gang. "Good thinking, but can we get there in time?" Rogue then asked with concern.

One of the blob creatures then rolled down the hill and roared at the gang. "There's only one way to find out, right?!" Zach said rhetorically as the gang ran away from the creature. Rogue and Zach decided to run the rest of the way and once they got to the tower, Zach and Rogue went first, squeezing through the nearly-closed doors to the tower. Peridot went next and Stevonnie went thirdly. But Topaz, being too big, couldn't fit through the doors and had to shapeshift in order to get into the tower.

They all hid as the creature tried to get inside the building, but was unsuccessful. It then snorted at the gang before retreating. "Phew..." Stevonnie then said in relief. "Yeah...you said it girl..." Rogue added with a chuckle as she put her hand over her beating heart. Stevonnie smiled at Rogue before noticing the interior of the tower. "Huh...Have I...been here before?" Stevonnie then said to themselves, getting a strange sense of deja vu by looking at the place.

"That's impossible, nobody's been here before. I mean, this whole place must've been abandoned long before I emerged." Peridot then said, and she wasn't wrong. The tower must've been left to rot on the jungle for thousands of years. "Heh, you're right. That's ridiculous." Stevonnie then said with a bit of a chuckle. "So anyway, I think we'd better get moving before the bird comes back." Zach then suggested, trying to step out of the tower until he heard the beast's roar from the outside, making him freak out a little. "Or not..." He then said awkwardly. "Welp, I guess we're camping here tonight." Stevonnie said with the same level of awkwardness as Zach.

* * *

Later...

Stevonnie and the others had set up camp and three hammocks, one for themselves, one for Rogue and one for Zach. To pass the time, the gang were telling stories about themselves, Peridot mentioning how her original life was and even up to the point where she met Steven and the gems. Then Topaz explaining how she was always wanting to be just a fusion, regardless to what Aquamarine thought about fusions.

Then it was Rogue's turn, and she went on to explain about how well she knew Connie, even how they first met when they were kids. "You two really go that far back?" Zach said in amazement, having heard more about Connie and Rogue's relationship as his girlfriend smirked at him. "You bet, Z-man. Connie and I first met in Ireland. It was over by a playground when I saw her on the hill. I creeped her out a little at first, but after a while, she got to know me a little better." Rogue explained, going back to the days when she and Connie were together.

* * *

Flashback (Rogue's POV)

**_Anyways...one day there was a huge misunderstanding that came from the sweet shop over in one of the streets. There had been a huge break-in at the store, and it was bad because the sweet old man who ran the store would've gone outta business. _**

**_Connie was 7 years old and I was 8 1/2 years old at the time. I decided to help out, people laughed at me and said I was too naive, but I didn't care what they thought. I just decided to help save the store._**

**_It was scary for Connie, but she helped anyway. Then after a lot of clues, we found out _****_that the real culprit was the shoe-maker lady. She pretty much never had a good childhood and she wanted to make sure nobody ever felt joy. _**

**_Then for our reward, Connie and I got a lot of candy, to which we both enjoyed to a point of view. Man, that holiday was the best, Connie and I were the best Dynamic Duo in the world, well, one of them anyway_****_._**

**_But...it wasn't to last. Connie eventually had to go back home to America._**

_Connie's parents almost had the car packed whilst Connie herself explained that she had to go back to America. "Welp, don't have any fun until we meet again. Ok, girl?" Young Rogue responded with a shrug and a smirk despite the tears. "How can I? You're taking all the fun with you, Felicia." Young Connie then added with a sad sigh._

_The two girls then hugged with a few tears to spare. "Man, I'm gonna miss you. Nothing's gonna be the same without you by my side." Rogue said before Connie's parents called her and told her that they were leaving. _

* * *

_Connie's School (2015, A Few months ago)_

**_I did notice Connie and I were attending the same school. But of course, I figured that she didn't notice me at all. One time I wanted to talk to her for the first time in years, but then I found that she was with Nora, who was the new girl at the time. It-it really made me feel a little jealous, but very lonely._**

**_After a while, I wanted confront Nora about stealing my childhood friend from me, but it turned out, she was shy. I found her cute as a teddy bear and we got to know each other a bit better._**

**_However, just when we were getting to know each other...she vanished. I was worried, but then I decided to see Connie, seeing as how she knew Nora like Zach did as well._**

Flaskback ends

* * *

Everyone was surprised

"And that's pretty much it..." Rogue finished, giving off a heavy sigh. "Woah...you really wanted to see me again after all this time?" Stevonnie said in disbelief on Connie's side. "I've been traveling on my own for years without my parents. After I saved up enough money, I was able to go to America. And yeah...I wanted to see you again." Rogue then said after tearing up and taking off her goggles and kitty hat. "Honestly, I'm really glad to have you back in my life girl." She then said with a few tears before hugging Stevonnie. "Yeah...so am I, Rogue." Stevonnie said as they warmly hugged their childhood friend.

Topaz was touched by this, but Peridot then turned her attention towards Zach. "So...what about you, Zach? How'd you get to be who you are and..." The little green gem began, only to be cut off when Zach yawned. "Maybe tomorrow, I'm getting kind of sleepy right now." Hearing that yawn from Zach, the gang decided that it was time to get some shuteye. Stevonnie then lay down in her own Hammock when Rogue and Zach lay down as well.

"G'night you guys." Stevonnie said to the others, who also wished her good night as well before going asleep, or rather, Peridot, Zach and Rogue did, Topaz decided to keep watch in case the huge bird blobs came back. Stevonnie on the other hand, decided to get some rest as much as possible. "Goodnight Stevonnie. Goodnight Stevonnie. Sweet...dreams..." They said to themselves before dozing off, almost as if Steven and Connie were actually speaking to each other without fusion involved.

* * *

_Back at...Connie's home?!_

_Stevonnie floated right out of what appeared to be a giant carpet-like surface whilst snoring loudly. It was only when they turned on her side to feel the softness of the carpet did they actually wake up, immediately noticing that they were in a gigantic version of Connie's home, either that or Stevonnie had shrunken from the looks of things. "W-What?! I'm...home?" Stevonnie then said in confusion, seeing a picture of herself replacing Connie in a family portrait._

_The ground began rumbling with a muffled voice spoke as this happened. "You were told to be prepared cycles ago." The voice spoke as Stevonnie then turned in the direction of it's source. There was a gigantic version of Connie's mother, Dr. Priyanka Maheswaran, rising out of the carpet with her phone pressed against her ear. "There will be no more excuses. Get it done. And don't expect me to look kindly upon this transgression. Embark at once." Priyanka said as she fully emerged from the carpet. Though something was strangely off about the way she spoke on the phone._

_"Mom? What is she talking about?" Stevonnie asked with a bit of a smirk. Suddenly Stevonnie had to quickly roll out of the way when their mother walked across the room towards the front door, nearly crushing them in the process. "Yes, I know there's organic life on the surface, it's an invasion." Priyanka then said, going on about those strange words she was talking about on the phone. "Hey mom! What are you talking about?" Stevonnie then yelled towards their mother, but got no response from the gigant woman._

_"You will stick to my orders and you will destroy them!" Priyanka spoke once again, sounding aggressive to the person on the other line. "I hate it when she ignores me." Stevonnie said after a sigh of boredom. Stevonnie then tried to get over to Priyanka by jumpng on the couch, onto a coffee table and finally floating over towards the window's edge. "No. Hm. No. I will not repeat myself. Hm. That is simply unacceptable." Priyanka spoke as Stevonnie made her way onto the window ledge._

_"Moooom!" Stevonnie yelled, trying to gain their mother's attention, only to be ingored once again. "Well, you'll have to remember, won't you?" Priyanka then said firmly. Annoyed by being ingored, Stevonnie then jumped onto their mother's coat, oblivious to the large yellow cicular flying saucers with three extendable legs, flying through the skies. "The dullness of this exchange tires me. Just land the dropships and do your pathetic job for once. Or I'll shatter you and your crew myself." Priyanka said, the way she talked almost seemed like she was a gem._

_By then, Stevonnie reached Priyanka's shoulders and moved her phone away from her ear. "Hey Mom, what are you doing?!" Stevonnie then asked once again, only this time she got the response that she never expected. Priyanka then opened her eyes to reveal two familiar yellow eyes with diamond pupils that glared at the human fusion. And as it turned out the caller on the other end was a gem called Nephrite XJ Cut 763, which Stevonnie never noticed. __"Honey, please. Give me a moment." Priyanka then said, picking Stevonnie off her shoulders and put her onto the floor._

* * *

_Suddenly, the area shifted._

_Nothing looked like Connie's home anymore, instead, it looked like the strange tower that Stevonnie and the others slept in, only it looked fixed up and new and had a hint of yellow within it. Turning around, Stevonnie could see a familiar yellow tyrant who sat back down onto her diamond throne. It was Yellow Diamond, she still had her firm and bored looks as usual while she summoned a panny with merely her hand._

_At that moment, Yellow's Pearl came strolling up beside her Diamond's throne. "My diamond, Black Diamond has arrived from Homeworld." She said, gesturing Black Diamond, proud and confident whilst hiding her facade. "Ah, Noir. I take it you were successful in helping White with one of her invasions?" Yellow said upon facing her proud younger sister with a smile. "Indeed I was. Though I must admit, controling the ship that Violet built for me is a little hard to control, but still...it was done." Noir said as she jumped onto Yellow's throne._

_"Huh?" Stevonnie said in confusion, unable to process what was happening sas Yellow and Noir then looked towards the panel together. She then noticed a fleet of flying yellow saucers with three legs flying towards an Earth-like planet, only...it seemed familiar. "Woah cool!" Stevonnie said after a squeal of excitement, strangely changing her expression all of a sudden._

_"Yellooooow!" Stevonnie then said, gaining Yellow's and Noir's attention much to both of their annoyances, even gaining the attention of a a few other gems in the tower, like a golden bismuth and even Yellow's Pearl. "Hey Yellow, hey Noir!" Stevonnie said with a grin as she popped up from the side of Yellow Diamond's throne. "Oh...you're still here." Yellow spoke, unamused at the sight of Stevonnie. "Ugh, why am I not surprised? Did Blue dump her on you?" Noir then asked with a hint of annoyance. "Indeed she did..." Yellow responded to Noir._

_"What are you doing?" Stevonnie asked with a smile. "I'm commanding the dropships to colonize this planet." Yellow explained, telling what she was doing. "I wanna command a dropship!" Stevonnie then said in excitement, much to Noir's glare of annoyance which stopped when Yellow gave her a glance before turning her eyes back to Stevonnie. "Well, when you have your own colony, you can command whatever you want." Yellow said bluntly._

_"I want a colony!" Stevonnie said, eager to get her own colony, but saying this had infuriated Noir. Still unamused by the company of Stevonnie, Yellow turned her attention back to the panel where four diamond-shaped buttons were located. She pressed them all in a specific order: White, Yellow, Blue and Pink. "I want one now!" Stevonnie said, being impatient all of a sudden. Yellow continued to ignore Stevonnie as she pressed the top diamond button which unlocked the panel to reveal a screen that displayed one of the dropships._

_"What's this?" Stevonnie asked with amazement. "I'm contacting the leader of the fleet." Yellow explained to the human fusion. "It's obviously one of the most important jobs to do as a Diamond, I thought you knew that by now." Noir groaned, rolling her eyes as she sharpened her fingers on Yellow's chair. "Let me do it!" Stevonnie then said after her eyes lit up as diamond pupils. She then began pressing the random buttons on the screen, mor specifically the yellow and blue buttons with excitement. _

_Suddenly, they were grabbed by an angry Yellow Diamond, shrieking before being turned around towards the two diamonds. "Don't touch that!" Yellow belowed angrily. "Do you have any idea what you could've done?! You could have made the diamond authority look like a pack of fools!" Noir growled with her teeth clenched and her eyes turned orange with fury. __Stevonnie then pulled their arm back with a sudden annoyed expression._

_"Why not? You, Blue and White have so many worlds, Violet's gotten her first three worlds and I don't even have one!" Stevonnie yelled as they stomped on Yellow's throne. "It's not fair! I. Want. One!" Stevonnie pouted once again along with stamping their foot once more. "I want my own army! I want my own planet! I deserve it! I'm just as important as you and Violet!" Stevonnie angrily yelled as she pointed at Yellow and Noir, sounding like someone she wasn't._

_"Then why don't you act like it, Pink?!" Yellow spoke both angrily and threatningly to the human fusion, calling her a strange name. Noir snickered at this before yanking Stevonnie towards her without even touching her. "Do us a favour and get lost...why don't you go play with Violet or that whimpy Pearl of yours?" Noir then spoke, really trying to make Stevonnie think they were a wimp. __Stevonnie then walked away and over to the glass windows of the tower, clutching their arm in anger before glancing back at Yellow and Black Diamonds._

_They then clench their fist in anger as they saw their reflection in the glass. Only Stevonnie's reflection…was not that of herself. Instead, it was the reflection of another gem. One who was somewhat smaller than Yellow Diamond and at the same height as Black Diamond, had bubblegum pink skin, deep pink eyes with diamond-shaped pupils, large shoulder-length fluffy pale pink hair and had lipstick as well. She wore a rose-burgundy top that was cropped in the middle to reveal her midriff with large puffy pink and white shoulder pads and rose gloves, a small pink and white skirt and short puffy rose-pink pants._

_However, the gemstone of this being was enough to tell Stevonnie who she was, the gemstone took the form of that which resembled a pink upside down, five-sided diamond. This could only mean one thing…Stevonnie had taken the place and was inside the memories of shattered diamond, Pink Diamond. With all that frustration and anger from being neglected and dismissed, Stevonnie punched the window, smashing, allowing her to see multiple scary and angry faces that belonged to Pink Diamond._

* * *

Back at the tower...

Stevonnie abruptly woke up, falling out of their hammock and onto the ground before getting to her knees and breathing hardly. This gained the rest of the gang's attention after most of them woke up. "S-Stevonnie...? What're you doing up?" Zach asked, yawning as he got up and saw his friend on the ground while being oblivious to the Hive Mind ceasing to glow pink along with Stevonnie's gemstone. "Steven, what was that?" Stevonnie asked on Connie's side. "Diamonds. I'm having Diamond dreams again. This time with Yellow and Noir. But, why now? Why...here?" Stevonnie said on Steven's side.

"Uh, what's going on?" Peridot asked in confusion. "I think Stevonnie's having an innter conversation." Topaz said meekly. "Hey girl, what's up?" Rogue then asked as she got out of her hammock and put her hat and goggles on. "I had a dream, but it wasn't like a dream. It was more like a memory from the past. Anyway it involved Yellow and Black Diamonds...well mainly Yellow Diamond, she was in a tower like this and she seemed angry." Stevonnie explained from what she could remember from the dream she just had.

"Well...I guess you weren't that far off on saying that it was a memory from the past." Peridot then said, getting everyone to see her as she looked up at something behind Stevonnie. "Uh, what do you...mean...?" Stevonnie then asked before trailing off and seeing a mural behind her, one that she had seen before on the Earth Moon Base. It was a mural of Yellow Diamond, near enough the same as the ones in the moon base. "No way." Stevonnie said, realising that the tower the gang were in was actually one of Yellow's older towers.

"Yes way. This must've been one of the moon bases that Yellow Diamond owned when Pink Diamond was still active. It's been abandoned after the genesis orb sucked the energy from the planet." Peridot explained further, finally realising where she was. "Woah...so that titan owned all of this?" Zach said, looking around the place. "If a Diamond's mural's here, then it's definately a Diamond's moon base." Peridot pointed out before she, along with the others, noticed an opening in the ceiling.

They all climbed up through it, helping each other along the way, before spotting some kind of orb-like structure in the center of the second floor, almost identical to the one on Earth. "This is just like the Moon Base orbiting Earth." Stevonnie said in realisation, and they weren't wrong, apart from the fact that this moon base was bigger than the Earth Moon Base. "It really is...I'm getting a serious sense of Deja Vu here." Peridot added, recalling the times when she was on Earth's Moon Base.

After climbing up another hole in the ceiling above the room they were, the gang saw the familiar sights along, including one out the windows of the base. "Woah now..." Stevonnie said in shock. "Jumping Jupiter..." Rogue added with a stunned expression. "Ok...I didn't see that coming." Zach then said after looking at a planet, more specifically, the same barren and fragmented planet that they had seen before. "That must have been a colony...before being sucked of life from the Genesis Orb." Stevonnie said, realising that the planet was one of the many victim planets for the Orb.

"It was...you know, I've been to many colonies before Earth. I never knew what it did to those poor planets until now." Peridot said sadly, feeling bad for the fallen planets before being given a stink eye from Topaz. "Sorry, that's not helping." Peri then said sheepishly. "Ok, it's settled. I think destroying that Genesis Orb is the best way to save the planets." Zach said firmly with Rogue nodding in agreement.

"We don't know how that's possible yet. I tried to tell you before...by destroying the Genesis Orb and returning the planetary energy, the user of the orb would get sucked of their own energy until they're either shattered, dead or unable to regenerate ever again...or at least, that's what I heard, it must be some kind of balance thing." Peridot explained, revealing what Purity failed to mention about the failsafe of the orb, much to everyone's shock. "It drains their energy?!" Stevonnie exclaimed in horror. "Until they're dead?!" Topaz added with a huge yelp.

Peridot looked away with worry. "She must've had her reasons for creating that kind of failsafe. Maybe one of the Diamonds is using it for their gain and she wanted to show the consequences of taking energy?" Peridot suggested, trying to think of a reason. "It doesn't matter for now...anyway, this is a diamond base?" Zach said, trying not to think more on the matter before making Stevonnie realise something important.

"Wait a second..." The human fusion said in realisation before walking over to a glass window along with the others following in confusion. The window was cracked, though it felt strangely familiar, like in their dream. "Pink Diamond was here..." They then said, feeling the broken glass window. "Impossible...Stevonnie, this definately looks like something Black Diamond would leave behind." Topaz said, knowing Black Diamond by now. "Topaz, I know what I saw. Pink Diamond was there and she was the same height as Black Diamond." Stevonnie insisted with annoyance.

Rogue meanwhile, took a picture of the shattered glass with her phone before writing something in a notebook she had on her. "Maybe she and Black Diamond were Off-Colors?" Peridot then suggested with a shrug, gaining Stevonnie's attention. "_Pink Diamond is...an off-color?_" Rogue said as she wrote down Peridot's words in her notebook. "Rogue, what are you doing?" Zach asked after spotting what she was doing.

"You said that Steven wanted to find out who shattered Pink Diamond, right? Well we need all the evidence we can get." Rogue pointed out, and being a young female detective, she wasn't wrong there. "Wait...if Pink Diamond was here..." Stevonnie began before looking over at a familiar gigantic throne before running over to it in realisation. "Then so were Yellow and Noir too!" They exclaimed as they jumped onto the chair to see that familiar panel, still levatating but now covered in vines.

The others came over to help her as she pulled the panel towards her. "That's it! I hope this thing still works." Stevonnie said as they and Topaz worked to clear away the vines from the panel. "Uh, how do you know this thing?" Zach asked with confusion. "I saw this thing in the dream I had, remember?" Stevonnie then pointed out as she activated the panel, causing the four diamond symbols to appear on it. "Ugh, of course...it's password protected. We don't have any way of opening this thing!" Peridot grumbled in annoyance.

"That pattern..." Stevonnie then said to themself before jumping to press each of them in the right order, like they saw in their dream. First White, then Yellow, then Blue and lastly Pink. Stevonnie then pressed the White Diamond button again before the panel was unlocked. "Ok...you're kinda beginning to creep me out, Stevonnie." Peridot said with a squeak. "I think I'm beginning to creep myself out." Stevonnie admitted with a worried expression before shaking it off and swiping through the different screens.

The first screen had some sort of charts on it. "Nope." Stevonnie said as they swiped to the next screen, which described the blob bird creatures from before. "Nuh-uh." They then said, swiping to the next screen, which had a photo of Yellow Pearl taking a selfie of herself and her diamond. "Uhh, yikes!" Stevonnie said as she quickly swiped to the next screen. "Well whaddya know? Gems invented the selfie before humans did." Zach said, amazed at the selfie being invented by a Pearl.

Stevonnie then looked at the panel to see a familiar tiny diamond with another small diamond who were both being adored by Blue Diamond. She looked to be tall as Black and Pink Diamonds from the dream, but the difference was, she was purple. "Purity...?" Stevonnie said in confusion, oblivious to Rogue taking a picture of the photo. "It can't be...she never told us anything like this before." Peridot said, being just as confused as Stevonnie. "Who's that purple gem there?" Zach then asked, eying the gem taller than Purity. "It's Purple Diamond, the one I mentioned before." Perdiot pointed out with shock going through everybody in the tower.

"Purple Diamond wasn't just beautiful, she was an absolute genius, way ahead of her time, according to the old archives of Homeworld." Peri then went on, explaining more about the diamond. "It's almost like she and Purity had a good relationship." Stevonnie said, feeling like Purity had a good reason for keeping this info from Steven. "Why didn't she tell us that she used to be part of the Diamond Aurthority?" Topaz asked, feeling like there was more to Purity and Purple Diamond's relationship. "That doesn't matter for now. Anyway, is there a way off this planet with this thing?" Peridot insisted, getting back to the matter at hand. "Oh right, Sorry." Stevonnie said sheepishly.

As they swiped to the next screen, they saw the Sun Incinerator. "It's Nora's ship!" Stevonnie said with desperation as she pressed the screen. "Oh thank the stars!" Topaz said in relief as the panel suddenly opened a transmission to Nora. "_Keep searching, Indicolite! We're not giving up on them, no matter what!_" Nora said firmly to her fellow friends on the other line. "_We're getting close to them now, but it's hard to pinpoint where they are..._" Indicolite said, getting a massive headache.

"Nora! Hey Nora! Hey Nora!" Stevonnie yelled, trying to get Nora's attention. "OVER HERE YOU FLUFFY PINK-HAIRED CLOD!" Peridot screamed with her loud voice. That scream, along with Topaz's, Zach's and Rogue's yells, were enough to get Nora's attention. "Stevonnie! Thank goodness. We've been looking for you all over this place." Nora said in absolute relief. "Oh my gosh Nora, it's so good to see you again!" Stevonnie said with a smile. "Yeah, I was worried that you wouldn't find us for a while." Zach said in relief.

"Indicolite, Ruty, Tila, send cords to their signal! It's wonderful to see you guys too." Nora said to her allies before turning to Stevonnie and the others. "Thanks Nora." Stevonnie said in relief, finally able to relax. "Finally, the worst is behind us." Peridot added with a huge sigh. However, she spoke too soon when the gang heard a loud thudding noise on the glass of the moon base. They then turned to see the same blob bird creature climbing up the glass and roaring at them. "You had to say it, didn't you?" Rogue groaned in Peridot's direction. "Hello, bird blob. My old friend." Stevonnie said with a nervous chuckle.

The blob bird then roared and began to break the glass with merely it's own beak. "Nora, hurry! We've got company!" Stevonnie said, reporting the situation to Nora with a panicked expression. "And hurry or I'll slap you if you don't!" Peridot exclaimed, also scared for her life but didn't show it. Thankfully, the creature stopped upon hearing the engines of the Sun Incinerator, the creature turned to see the ship flying towards it.

"Yeeehaaaw!- Woah! What the heck is that thing?" Nora said, amazement at first until she saw the blob bird. "I don't know, but it's not here to play nice!"Stevonnie explained with worry. "Verdelite, Tila, charge the blasters!" Nora then ordered, allowing her allies to fire at the creature that quickly crawled onto the top of the roof and attempted to break it. However, a figure shot out from the top of the ship, revealing to be Titanite. The huge green titan gem then landed on top of the tower before punching the blob bird with just one fist.

Her punch was so powerful, it sent the creature flying off the tower, although it didn't fall to the ground and instead it expanded it's own body and made it look like an open umbrella as it pumped out air like a jellyfish in water. The gang were finally able to relax when the creature was far from sight, especially since the Sun Incinerator had found them. "_We did it! Now, let's get you guys back onboard. Indicolite, can you give them a hand?_" Nora said with a smile, glad to have been there for her brother.

Titanite then smashed the top of the tower before shapeshifting her arm and hand, making it longer and bigger. "Hop on everyone, we'll get you back on board in no time." She said, waiting for everyone to get onto her hand. "Yeah...I think I'm ready to go home." Stevonnie said, and to their expectance, nobody disagreed with them. Although, the fusion took one last glance at the broken glass before getting onto Titanite's hand and being lifted up.

* * *

Back onboard the Sun Incinerator

Having been helped up by Indicolite, Titanite then re-fused with her other components to form Fluorite. Nora was glad that her friends were alright and nearly had another meltdown before being reassured by her brother. Connie tried apoloising for being responsible for Steven not being able to check up on Nora, but the young girl said that she had nothing to be sorry for.

The gang stayed with Nora for a little while, and then afterwards, Steven and the other left for home, promising to check up on Nora more often. The Incinerator then continued it's journey though space with Red Diamond watching the whole adventure of Stevonnie and their friends. "Well, that was certainly some adventure. Who'd have thought they'd come across my creator's old photo?" She said with a warm smile before leaving her observatory and using her gem to show the image of Purity, Purple and Blue Diamonds.

* * *

**And there we have it ^^**

**It's good to finally get back into the usual routine, and get the next chapter out.**

**Anyways, be sure to stay tuned for the next chapter**

**Negaboss2000 out ^^**


End file.
